No reason why Australia should not be a global leader in the fintech sector
by Scott Morrison MP, Federal Treasurer Digital disruption in financial services is changing the world. The opportunities that spring from this disruption, in a region with an Asian middle class increasingly empowered by choice, are there for our taking. Recently I travelled to Beijing to lead our representation at the Strategic Economic Dialogue with the Chinese government, and meet with major Chinese firms who are investing in Australia. Among the encouraging signs of China’s pursuit of sustainable economic growth, the prudency in which it is addressing debt and its continued openness to trade and investment, is the pace of digital change within their economy. While Silicon Valley, London or Singapore […]
‘Banking for blockchain’ platform raises AUD$37m in pre-ICO round
ASX-listed blockchain solutions company DigitalX has announced Bankera has successfully closed its Pre-Initial Coin Offering (ICO) round by raising €25m (AUD$37m). Bankera, a digital fintech solution platform based in Europe, has closed €25m via the sale of 2.5 Billion Banker (BNK) tokens at €0.01 each. Bankera is building a regulated bank for the blockchain era, so it means it will be a digital bank with traditional banking services (eg, giving out loans) and will support both cryptocurrencies and regular currencies. With DigitalX as its corporate advisor, it held the token sale to fast-track the development of a ‘digital bank’ for consumers operating in the blockchain era. “This announcement is an […]
Digital banking has way to go: neobank Xinja’s Eric Wilson
The way neobanks see it, digital banking has barely scratched the surface, with newfangled banking apps nothing more than digitised versions of analog capabilities. It’s a view strongly endorsed by former National Australia Bank executive Eric Wilson, who is the co-founder of Australia’s first neobank Xinja — a 100 per cent digital bank (presently under construction) that’s designed entirely for the mobile market. Xinja’s submission to the Productivity Commission’s consultation paper on competition in the financial system, lodged yesterday, encapsulates why it stands alone in this country, in contrast to the proliferation of neobanks in countries like Britain (Monzo, Starling, Atom Bank and Tandem), and Germany (N26 and Fidor). Thankfully, […]
Equity crowdfunding a slow burn, advisers say
The legalisation of equity crowdfunding has met with enthusiasm from those hoping to raise money with it, but financial planners say it will be years before it is taken seriously by investors. Leading advisers contacted by The Australian Financial Review said no clients had approached them in relation to the new crowdsourced equity funding legislation, which was introduced by Treasurer Scott Morrison on Thursday. With Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos set to open The Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, the government is hoping equity crowdfunding will help bring start-ups and innovation closer to the average Australian, and boost support for the “ideas boom” agenda blamed for nearly […]
KKR spices up Pepper bid to whet investor appetite
The Kohlberg Kravis Robert team behind the $650 million bid for Pepper Group is working overtime to get shareholders on side, with the transaction not a done deal. The private equity giant is preparing a scheme booklet that will be sent to shareholders shortly to press on with its $3.60 a share offer. It is also prepared to offer holders shares in the KKR-controlled company making the bid. KKR beat out major rivals such as Bain and JC Flowers in July to land in the box seat to gain control of the major non-conforming lending business, which has been through a recent resurgence. Perpetual emerged as an early stumbling block […]
Peppermint secures strategic investment at a premium
Peppermint Innovation Ltd (ASX: PIL) announce a strategic placement agreement has been executed, for the investment of $1,000,000 at 2 cents per share via a placement of 50,000,000 shares in the Company, with an option to place a further $1,000,000 at a 25% premium to 5 day VWAP within 60 days from the first placement. The placement agreement has been executed between the Company and Smidge Digital Unit Trust, an Australian special purpose investment vehicle that subscribes for minority positions in innovative fintech and enterprise data analytics companies. Chris Kain, Managing Director & CEO comments: “This is a significant relationship with a strategic investor who has an intrinsic […]
Mike Cannon-Brookes leads $4m round in home energy fintech start-up Brighte
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has made his latest move in his ongoing effort to move the dial on Australia’s energy crisis, becoming the lead backer in a capital raising for home energy funding platform Brighte. The company, which was founded by former Macquarie Group senior manager Katherine McConnell in 2015, provides on-the-spot finance online for home energy improvements such as solar panels and home batteries. It promises to dramatically increase the number of homes installing renewable, clean energy equipment by taking away the often hefty upfront cost and making it easier and more affordable. Brighte raised an initial seed round of $3.5 million from high net worth investors and family […]
Westpac creates data accelerator
Westpac Banking Corp has created a “data accelerator” to build new technology businesses from anonymised data sets, and will offer access to it to institutional banking clients seeking to turn data into assets. FUELD, which has been set up in partnership with Stone & Chalk, will provide early-stage start-ups access to the Data Republic data-sharing platform. Westpac’s venture capital fund, Reinventure Group, is an investor in Data Republic. The accelerator will be run by the former CEO of Fishburners, Murray Hurps. Macgregor Duncan, Westpac’s co-head of business development, said start-ups which could emerge from the program may examine new credit models and applications for algorithmic real-time property valuations. Start-ups will […]
