Investing

Aug
22

Financial business management platform PractiFI raises $3 million to establish North American headquarters and take on US

PractiFI, a revolutionary business growth management platform for forward-thinking financial advice firm announced a AUD$3 million investment led by Microequities Venture Capital Fund. The financing will be used to rapidly accelerate PractiFI’s global strategy, establishing a North American headquarters in Chicago, expanding the US customer success team and building a range of new product integrations with other financial apps and tools. Since winning its first US client earlier this year, the Sydney-based company has gone from strength to strength and this international investment marks a significant milestone in its exponential growth. Following the investment, Howard Leibman of Microequities and Equity Venture Partners will join the PractiFI board. Mr Leibman says, […]

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Aug
21

Why this un-banked Kiwi crypto startup has relocated to Sydney

Kiwi cryptocurrency broker startup Cryptosaver has relocated from its Auckland birthplace to Sydney, with the founders claiming they have been unable to open a bank account for the business in New Zealand. Founded a year ago by James Viggiano, Denym Bird and Jack Daffron, Cryptosaver is an investment platform for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, designed to make it easy for users to purchase cryptocurrency and track gains on their investments. Co-founder James Viggiano, who is now based in Sydney while his co-founders work out of Auckland, tells StartupSmart the startup was initially able to open an account with one of the New Zealand banks, but that bank soon closed their account. […]

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Home grown BTC Markets exchange adds home grown Power Ledger

BTC Markets is one of Australia’s relatively few home grown cryptocurrency exchanges, and it’s now listed Power Ledger (POWR), one of Australia’s relatively few home grown cryptocurrencies, as its eighth token. “At BTC Markets, our mission is to support the growth of innovative Australian projects, connecting them to Australian investors who understand the transformative potential of blockchain technology,” said BTC Markets co-founder Jarrod Crane. Power Ledger saw early international success with its ICO being the largest in Australia at the time, bolstered largely by overseas investments. It’s also one of relatively few cryptocurrencies to appreciate beyond its ICO price and continue growing. It’s quickly pushing towards real world adoption, with […]

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Aug
21

eToro adds IOTA cryptocurrency

IOTA is now the most technically distinctive cryptocurrency on eToro. IOTA is now available on eToro as the social trading platform’s 12th crypto-asset, so users are able to buy and sell it. IOTA has also been added to eToro’s Crypto CopyFund – a contract for difference (CFD) set-up which lets users diversify across a basket of cryptocurrencies, weighted by market cap, with one click. As a social trading platform, eToro also lets users set up systems to automatically copy each other’s trades across cryptocurrency, as well as forex, stocks and other instruments. The full range of cryptocurrencies now available includes bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, XRP, Litecoin, Ethereum Classic, Dash, Stellar, […]

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Aug
21

BetaShares to launch three new ETFs to the ASX

The new ETFs will track international companies and offer exposure to blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies. Australian exchange traded funds (ETF) manager BetaShares has today announced its plans to launch three new ETFs on the ASX. The ETFs will track international markets and will provide exposure to new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI). The three new ETFs are BetaShares Asia Technology Tigers ETF (ASX:ASIA), BetaShares Global Blockchain Innovators ETF (ASX:BLOK) and BetaShares Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF (ASX:RBTZ). Unlike a listed investment company (LIC), which has fund managers actively picking stocks in an attempt to beat the market, ETFs simply mirror the performance of a particular […]

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Aug
21

VendorPanel raises $2.35 million to simplify procurement and drive positive social and economic outcomes

VendorPanel, a leading Australian procurement platform, announced it has secured AUD$2.35 million Series A capital led by Microequities Venture Capital Fund, with strategic investment by Aconex founders Leigh Jasper and Rob Phillpot.The financing will be used to accelerate growth, extend product development,  and expand into new international markets. With Microequities Venture Capital Fund, Jasper and Phillpot all holding globally successful track records in the SaaS B2B marketplace, the investment is a significant vote of confidence in the Melbourne-based technology company.Following the investment, Justin Lipman of Microequities Venture Capital Fund will join the VendorPanel board. He commented: “VendorPanel’s vision and expertise are helping to simplify procurement. Over 1,000 organisations have seen the benefits so […]

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Aug
20

Homeloans to fund and use Athena’s new home loan platform

Homeloans Ltd will provide debt funding to Athena Home Loans and has joined Macquarie and SquarePeg as a shareholder of the new home loan platform, which is preparing to launch later this year with technology to link mortgage borrowers directly with super funds and non-bank lenders. Athena, founded by two former National Australia Bank executives, is targeting $1 billion of lending in its first year, a drop in the ocean compared to the $1.7 trillion mortgage market. However, the strategic partnership announced by ASX-listed Homeloans on Monday morning shows major banks, which are grappling with a loss of customer trust due to the banking royal commission, are under growing pressure […]

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Aug
20

Advisers with robo capabilities will have an edge

While standalone robo-advice won’t attract affluent investors, it will offer a competitive advantage to traditional wealth managers over competitors, GlobalData says. The research company said that robo-advisers alone didn’t attract assets under management, and that high net worth (HNW) investors generally only entrusted small portfolios to digital-only platforms. GlobalData’s Technology in Wealth Management: Drivers for Adoption and Future Trends survey found that demand for robo-advice was growing, however, meaning that offering it could strengthen human advisers’ value to clients. Forty per cent of private wealth managers surveyed noted strong demand for the technology from clients, most obviously in the Asia-Pacific region. “Despite some drawbacks robo-advice is a competitive advantage that […]

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