Sydney at the centre of booming Australian Fintech industry
Sydney is home to over half of Australia’s Fintech companies and is helping to drive unprecedented growth in the industry, according to a new report by the Committee for Sydney and KPMG. The report, Scaling the Fintech Opportunity: For Sydney and Australia, finds that the number of Fintech start-ups in Australia has increased from less than 100 in 2014 to 579 companies today, with around 60% of all Fintech companies basing themselves in Sydney. It will be launched at a special event at 7pm this evening by NSW Minister for Trade and Industry, the Hon. Niall Blair. Fintech is by-and-large driven by local companies, with 512 Australian and […]
Ahmed Fahour joins BCG Digital Ventures to stay in identity game
Ahmed Fahour, who has joined BCG Digital Ventures as non-executive chairman for Asia, said the future of e-commerce will rely on trusted digital identity and his new role advising the global venture capitalist, part of Boston Consulting Group, will place him at the forefront of blockchain being rolled into some of the world’s largest companies. After leaving Australia Post as its CEO on Friday, Mr Fahour has re-emerged at BCG, where he worked for 13 years before embarking on a banking career; the new role would take up a couple of days a month, he said, as he “works on the organisation, not in it”. BCG Digital Ventures worked with […]
NSW urged to lift fintech efforts to protect jobs
The NSW government needs to lift efforts to ensure Sydney captures new financial services jobs in fintech as competition from the likes of Melbourne and Singapore to attract them intensifies, says a report prepared for the Committee for Sydney by KPMG, to be released on Tuesday. With fintech automation set to slice thousands of paper-pushing jobs in financial services incumbents over the coming years, a battle is in progress to attract the start-ups and technology giants redefining the future of banking. The Committee for Sydney report, titled Scaling the fintech opportunity for Sydney and Australia, urges government to get more active promoting Australia and Sydney as a leading global financial […]
Start-up bank says drop $50m capital requirement
The prudential regulator’s insistence that banks have at least $50 million in Tier 1 capital has erected a substantial barrier to entry for new players, says Xinja, the start-up backed by former Macquarie executives which is working with the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority’s newly established licensing unit to become a bank. The federal government said in the May budget it would lift a prohibition on the use of the word “bank” by an authorised deposit-taking institution (ADIs) with less than $50 million in capital. The next day, APRA announced its new licensing unit. Xinja’s ambition to use the new law and unit to build Australia’s first “neobank” were revealed in […]
Prospa raises $20m from Partners for Growth
Online business lender Prospa has raised $20 million from Silicon Valley-based Partners for Growth through a tailored debt facility that will allow it to ramp up loans and further develop its technology allowing credit assessments to be made in seconds. Prospa, which has lent more than $400 million to small businesses, up from $250 million in February after a strong fourth quarter, has deals with 4000 distribution partners, including finance brokers and cloud accounting platforms. It also has a referral partnership with Westpac Banking Corp. Prospa chief financial officer Ed Bigazzi said some of the new capital will be used for product development, including in invoice financing, and a stronger […]
Australia leads non-core markets in fintech investment deals, but what does the sector need to grow?
Australia has emerged alongside Brazil as a leading fintech market after facilitating the largest fintech investment deals outside of the core markets of Asia, Europe and North America in the past 12 months, a report from CB Insights has found. The Global Fintech Trends report analysed global trends and found that half of the 10 largest fintech deals outside of core markets took place in Australia between the second quarter of 2016 and the second quarter of 2017. The remaining four took place in Brazil, and one took place in South Africa. Online small business lending platform Prospa topped the five Australian deals that made the list with its AirTree Ventures-led $25 […]
H2 Ventures hosts fourth annual Sydney Fintech Expo to support aspiring start-ups
H2 Ventures together with the ASX and Investec Australia, will today host the fourth annual H2 Ventures Expo. Fintech industry leaders and investors will join H2 Ventures, one of Australia’s leading fintech investment firms, at its annual Fintech Expo which aims to bring together a collective of early stage venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders to promote growth and continue to drive change in the financial series industry in Australia. The Expo features a panel discussion with industry leaders, discussing the state of the Ecosytem. The panel includes Elaine Stead of Blue Sky Funds, Katherine McConnell of Brighte and Wyatt Roy of Afiniti, moderated by Cathy Kovacs from […]
This Australian Bitcoin exchange startup just raised $815,000 to expand globally and add Ethereum to its platform
An Australian Bitcoin trading startup has secured $815,000 in a series A round it says was oversubscribed by double the original target amount. Melbourne-based Bitcoin.com.au that allows everyday Australians to buy and sell Bitcoins — including the ability to have cash handed over at more than 1,200 physical locations including Commonwealth Bank and Westpac branches, and selected newsagents. Business Insider understands the startup was seeking $500,000 for the round, but ended up having more than $1 million offered to it for overseas expansion and diversification into different types of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin.com.au was formed in 2015 and charges a 5% fee on the spot rate to generate revenue. Sydney’s Alium Capital […]
