Australia needs state-backed SME investment: ombudsman
The small business ombudsman has released a long-awaited report on SME access to capital, and issued a range of recommendations, including the establishment of government-backed SME investment fund. Releasing the Affordable Capital for SME Growth report, Kate Carnell, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), said that Australian lenders consider SME loans to be high-risk, which has unwanted flow-on effects. “In Australia, lenders consider SMEs high-risk and offer capital with restrictive terms and conditions, at high interest rates and demand bricks and mortar as security – which is usually the family home,” Ms Carnell said. “Unfortunately, the unintended consequences of the financial services royal commission for SMEs might […]
How the rich invest: Afterpay’s Nicholas Molnar makes a cool $200 million
The tearaway market success of Afterpay Touch Group has however supercharged the fortunes of its 28-year-old co-founder Nicholas Molnar. Afterpay is fast becoming the go-to payments platform for Millennial shoppers who want to own products immediately but pay for them in instalments. The instalment service is growing rapidly. It has more than 1.8 million customers and is growing at roughly 3300 new customers per day. There are now 14,000 retailers using the service; it will soon be available for buying Jetstar flights and in May announced it was transacting in the US after cutting a deal with retail powerhouse Urban Outfitters. The potential for growth in the US has been […]
Praemium inks deal with WA-based wealth manager
A West Australian wealth manager with about $1.2 billion in funds under management is Praemium’s newest client. Broking and wealth management firm Hartleys will manage its client portfolios using Praemium’s reporting and administration platform, with the deal set to increase cost efficiencies in Hartleys’ administration process. With Hartleys looking to enhance its value proposition, Praemium’s investor portal served as a key in the decision to award the mandate. Hartleys chief executive Charlie Ransom said Praemium stood out for its strengths in corporate action processing and performance analysis and reporting. “This allows us, most importantly, to have a consolidated view of our clients’ overall portfolio, provide timely and accurate reports to […]
Stake unlocks $31 trillion US share market for Aussies, launching new trading app
Rapidly-growing Australian fintech startup Stake is set to revolutionise trading and open up direct access to the $31 trillion US stock market as its new trading app launches today. The app is the first to give Aussies access to more than 3,000 shares to invest in some of the world’s biggest companies with $0 brokerage, right from the palm of their hands. The app launch comes as Stake announces significant company growth. More than $50 million (US$38 million) has been transacted on the site, with more than 39,000 trades and 12,000 users who are taking advantage of low-cost, simple direct access to the US market. This next big milestone — […]
The cryptic message that has the bitcoin community buzzing
Is the unknown creator of Bitcoin writing a book about it? That could be concluded from a cryptic message posted Friday at a website possibly linked to Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym used by the person or people who released the original Bitcoin white paper in 2008. The site details the “first excerpt to a literary work consisting of two parts” that promises to be “a short story if you will, with some of the most brought up questions and answers. I wanted the people and the facts to be known.” In true Nakamoto style, it even includes a cryptogram, which purports to reveal names related to the title of the […]
Airwallex in the money with $108m raise
Melbourne-based fintech start-up Airwallex has closed the second-largest fundraising round in Australian start-up history, taking in $US80 million ($108 million) for a Series B round led by Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings, alongside Sequoia Capital China and Melbourne’s Square Peg Capital. The company, which was founded by five Chinese-Australian 30-somethings, has built a system to enable cross-border payments by combining payments and foreign exchange transfers into a single transaction. In 2017 it raised $US19 million ($26 million) from the same investors, but it has now also added two more backers from China’s booming venture capital scene in Hillhouse Capital and Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures, as well as Indonesia’s Central Capital Ventura. […]
Fractional investing platform DomaCom expands into rural property
ASX-listed DomaCom has taken its fractional property investing platform to the bush after tying up a partnership with rural start-up Cultivate Farms. Under the arrangement, Cultivate Farms will source appropriate properties from farmers looking to retire and match these to aspiring or next generation farmers with DomaCom providing the investment capital through its crowdfunding platform. To help get the project off the ground, AFL great and farming sector advocate Kevin Sheedy has come on board as ambassador. “The idea behind this project is to enable young farming families to get their foot on a property they can farm commercially, while at the same time enabling a retiring farmer to sell […]
Adelaide fintech startup Joust seeking to raise $2m in Equity Crowd Funding
Adelaide fintech startup Joust is launching an equity crowdfunding campaign via OnMarket and is hoping to raise $2 million to rapidly scale the business. The Joust platform, launched in 2016, links borrowers with more than 20 lenders who compete against each other to offer the lowest interest rate via a reverse auction process. Using equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket, the company plans to spend a large portion of the money raised on advertising, with the remaining funds to go towards product development, potential entry into overseas markets and building out the Joust team. A minimum $700,000 is being sought as part of the capital raise, which allows retail investors to invest between $500 […]
