Picturewealth app that lets you take a ‘welfie’ pic of your finances raises $1.2m
A Perth start-up that claims to offer a snapshot of your finances – dubbed a “welfie” – has raised $1.2 million, led by the financial planning group that will distribute its app first. The funding for PictureWealth shows the excitement around personal budgeting fintechs created by the likes of Acorns and Pocketbook – both of which have raised millions in Australia – continues to spread. PictureWealth claims to allow users to aggregate information on all their assets, debts, expenses and insurance policies, viewable on one PC or smartphone screen at one time. “Until now, there hasn’t been a single space where people can view a picture of their personal wealth. […]
Leading startup investment insiders told us what they’re looking for in the perfect fintech
Rajeev Gupta knows about startups and what’s needed to attract funding for them. The former investment banker and technology investor has had his own startup, Geckolife, and has also worked at Goldman Sachs and Tribeca. Now he’s a partner at Alium Capital, a technology-focused crossover investment fund looking after sophisticated investors wanting to get in on smaller, high potential projects overlooked by the big players. He’s recently closed a couple of key investments in local Sydney fintech startups. In Australia, fintech is mostly driven by local companies, with 512 Australian and 67 offshore companies operating locally, according to analysis by KPMG. One of Gupta’s investments is Stockspot, a robo-adviser fund […]
H2 Ventures eyes global expansion and data and AI start-ups after fresh intake
Sydney-based fintech accelerator H2 Ventures is preparing to take its program international and expand into artificial intelligence and big data after doubling its intake of startups. The accelerator brings on startups, which receive $100,000 in return for a 10 per cent stake in their company, and in exchange they partake in a program that runs for 20 weeks, based out of Stone & Chalk in Sydney. H2 has just set up an office in San Francisco, designed to support its rapidly-growing portfolio of startups when they expand to the US and take on a fresh intake of 16 startups, after it received 300 applications following a roadshow across major cities […]
Australian FinTech Launches Australia’s Only Dedicated FinTech Jobs Platform – Australian FinTech Jobs
The team behind the highly successful Australian FinTech website have soft-launched their FinTech employment marketplace platform, Australian FinTech Jobs. Founder and CEO, Cameron Dart, says AustralianFinTechJobs.com.au has been born on the back of the highly successful Australian FinTech website and growing demand from the local FinTech community to have a dedicated employment platform for the sector. AustralianFinTechJobs.com.au is Australia’s only dedicated platform for FinTech companies and Recruiters to promote FinTech, financial technology, financial services, banking, legal and IT employment opportunities in Australia. “Australian FinTech have built a new jobs startup for fintechs and startups about startups, fintechs and jobs” “When people think of ‘FinTech’ in relation to employment, they might […]
TruePillars secures $5m in Series A capital raise
TruePillars, the online marketplace lender allowing everyday Australians to fund loans to small businesses, today announced it has raised a total of $5 million in a Series A funding round. The funding round was led by a long-term Melbourne-based private investor, and includes both equity and commitments by shareholders to fund loans to Australian businesses on the TruePillars platform. Further commitments from additional investors are expected to be finalised by 30 September. The business will now commence a recruitment drive to more than double its number of employees over the next 12 months. “This investment will give us the means to further innovate and build on our service, including our […]
What directors need to know about fintech
Since all organisations rely on financial services in some way, directors will need to be cognisant of the changes fintech is bringing as it enters the mainstream. Until relatively recently fintech had been perceived as the esoteric domain of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, but two stories in Australian markets this week highlighted the increasing prominence and mainstreaming of the industry. Big four bank Westpac invested $40m in ASX-listed zipMoney, according to a stock exchange announcement on Monday (7 August). As part of the investment in the Fintech small cap, the bank committed to exploring the rollout of zipMoney’s ‘buy now, pay later’ services across its payments network. On the same day The […]
zipMoney secures $40M strategic investment and relationship with Westpac
zipMoney Limited (ASX: ZML) is pleased to announce that it has secured a $40 million strategic investment in the Company from Westpac Banking Corporation (ASX: WBC) by way of a private share placement. Westpac and Zip have also entered a strategic relationship which allows the parties to explore the integration of Zip’s products and services across Westpac’s network throughout Australia. As part of the strategic relationship, the parties will explore other initiatives including the provision of currently in-development business-to-business products and services to Westpac. The WBC strategic investment will be by way of a $40 million ordinary equity investment comprising the subscription of 49,382,716 fully paid ordinary zipMoney shares at […]
Sydney is challenging Singapore as the region’s fintech startup hub
The number of fintech startups in Australia has increased to 579 companies from less than 100 in 2014, according to a study by KPMG launched today. Australian fintech investment is strong with $US675 million invested across 25 deals in 2016 despite an overall global decline in investment in the sector. And about 60% of fintech companies are based in Sydney, which has been the major recipient of fintech venture capital investment at $US171 million between 2014 and 2016. The report, Scaling the Fintech Opportunity: For Sydney and Australia, has been produced by KPMG for the think tank, Committee for Sydney. The report finds, based on interviews with the Australian fintech […]
