Matt Heine and Steve Tucker back fintech start-up
Artificial intelligence-enabled fintech start-up Nod has received a private capital injection from industry luminaries including Netwealth joint MD Matt Heine and Koda Capital chair Steve Tucker. In a statement, Nod announced it has raised $750,000 in capital as part of a funding round to support the its plans for expansion. The start-up, which “generates documents in real-time for finance professionals” using artificial intelligence, said it received the backing of a number of “key investors” including Mr Heine, Mr Tucker, Padua Financial Group executive chair Matt Esler, and venture capital firm H2 Ventures. Mr Heine said compliance-driven document generation had the potential to “save advice firms significant time, effort and expense” […]
Seasoned Executive is appointed CEO of leading Fintech Macrovue
AMP-backed fintech Macrovue is pleased to announce today it has appointed Rod Bristow as CEO. Rod is a former Chief Operating Officer and alternate Managing Director of Australia’s largest online stockbroker CommSec. Most recently he was Managing Director and CEO of Infocus Wealth Management – a national financial advice, asset management and technology group. In these roles, Rod led large teams to drive substantial growth organically and via mergers and acquisitions. Macrovue will retain the expertise and capability of Founder Dr Sid Sahgal, who will move into the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer. This strategic move will provide substantial depth of capability for Macrovue to deliver on its […]
Bank-in-an-app startup Pelikin has launched a crowfunding equity raise
Pelikin, a banking alternative designed for digital natives, today launched a $400,000 equity raise on crowdfunding platform Birchal. The fintech startup is founded by 28-year-old Sam Brown, who wants to disrupt traditional retail banking with a more efficient way to manage money in Australia and while travelling abroad. Pelikin users will be able to control and spend in multiple currencies at once, all from the one app and with one debit card, as well as transfer money to other Pelikin users instantly and free. “We’re not ex bankers who’ve had an epiphany that the retail banking world needs to change; we’re frustrated, everyday banking customers who are dedicated to making […]
Peer to Peer lending increasingly popular in Australia
Australian investors and borrowers are increasingly adopting peer to peer lending platforms according to the results of survey undertaken by ASIC. The results of the survey suggest that as much as $300 million of personal and business loans were underwritten by peer to peer lenders over the course of the last fiscal year. That represents a doubling in the amount that was lent on such platforms during the 2015/2016 financial year. Peer to peer will continue to grow John Price ASIC Commissioner says the results of the survey suggest that growth of such lending marketplaces will continue to grow as Australians seek out the best deals and interest rates on […]
Acorns to launch its own superannuation product
The micro-investment app’s new super product, Acorns Grow Australia Super, will be available from March. Micro-investment platform Acorns has today announced it will launch its own super product to sit within its existing app. The Acorns app is popular with Australians, particularly millennials, for its simple approach to investing by rounding up everyday transactions and adding the loose change into an investment portfolio on their behalf. The super product, Acorns Grow Australia Super, will follow in the same footsteps aiming to simplify superannuation. Managing director of Acorns George Lucas said the new super product, like the existing investment product, has been built with young Australians in mind. “We see younger […]
Anonymous Bitcoin investor buys $400 million worth of crypto
An anonymous cryptocurrency trader has snapped up $400 million worth of Bitcoin as the digital currency continues to recover the heavy losses experienced in 2018. Recorded on the blockchain, the unknown investor snapped up the inordinate purchase sometime between February 9 and 12. Because every transaction made in Bitcoin is recorded on a digital ledger known as “the blockchain”, no movement of money is invisible – but the parties who make the transactions are still unknown. It’s presumed the mysterious buyer was “buying the dip” by purchasing when Bitcoin was at a two-month low of between $US 8,689 and $US 8,070. Since the purchase, Bitcoin has shot up to its […]
Crowdfund laws frozen in time
Much-anticipated reforms extending equity crowdfunding to private companies have yet to move through the Parliament, nearly six months after the bills were first introduced. The Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding for Proprietary Companies) Bill 2017 would let private companies undertake an equity crowdfunding round without first converting into an unlisted public company. The bill was introduced to the House last September last year and the first and second readings were quickly completed. But it has not been raised again, with no debate or third reading in the six months since. Adding the six month assent period after the bill is passed, equity crowdfunding won’t be available to local startups until September […]
Banks tackle fintech challengers as they struggle to be preferable to a dentist visit
According to the Millennial Disruption Index, 71 per cent of young people would rather go to the dentist than listen to what their bank is saying, and new research from Viacom’s research arm, Scratch, finds a third of Millennials expect to be bank-free in the near future. Meanwhile 75 per cent say they would prefer financial services from start-ups and tech companies such as Apple or Google. US fintech phenomenon, SoFi, has been at the forefront of new customer acquisition and retention strategies, including career counselling and using data analytics to match-make their customers in “Singles Nights” cocktail functions. The Big Four Australian banks know the challenges that lie ahead […]
