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 […]
Australia’s CommBank arms combine to launch robo-advice service
Two units of Australia’s largest bank have teamed up to launch a ‘robo-for-adviser’ portal aimed at financial advisers servicing high net worth clients. CommSec Adviser Services, the adviser support arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA / CommBank), and Colonial First State, part of the CBA’s global asset management business, will jointly provide the new system, named Portfolio Service. The service will offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ online that aims to enable advisers to manage their clients’ investments by automating administration and reporting requirements. Designed for the fee-for-service business models, the system can be customised to support specific advice fee structures and is offered by both firms. Better service CommSec Adviser […]
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 […]
How Fintech is shaping the future of Wealth Management
A new report from the World Economic Forum and Deloitte confirmed what many advisors, technology vendors and industry analysts have long insisted: it is established wealth management firms, not startups, best positioned to capitalize on disruptive technology. Robo advisors have proven to be an effective tool for customer engagement, but they’ve also proven relatively inexpensive and easy to replicate. By offering their own robo, firms increase customer stickiness while also avoiding the high client acquisition costs that plague startups. But the future is far from certain. Robos have set a new standard for the kind of personalized digital experience clients expect from financial services, and business-to-business fintechs—the so-called wealthtech companies—continue to automate more middle and […]
How to buy Bitcoin: Crypto currency making a comeback with investors
Ever wondered what $50,000 looks like in cash, gold and silver? While piles of $100 notes or ingots of silver might make the money hungry salivate, the equivalent value in gold is a paltry #g bar and almost doesn’t seem worth acknowledging. But spare a thought for those who invest their hard-earned money in an item that delivers even less of a visible return but which has rapidly grown in popularity around the world: Bitcoin. A $50,000 “piece” of the crypto currency is rendered physically as a mere printout of a QR code on a piece of card. Hardly inspiring stuff. Yet, the way Australians invest their hard-earned cash seems […]
Fractional investing company BrickX adds Adelaide to its portfolio
BUYING pieces of a property — rather than an entire house — is gaining traction as Australians seek fresh ways to enter the increasingly expensive real estate market. Fractional investing company BrickX this week launches its first property in Adelaide — its first purchase outside the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne — and plans to buy in Brisbane and Hobart within the next 12 months. But BrickX’s platform — which divides a residential property into 10,000 units or “bricks” for buyers to share in its growth and expenses — is not only appealing to a traditional investment crowd. More than half of the 6500 users it has attracted since […]
Who is using bitcoin in Australia?
If you’re wondering who are the major bitcoin users in Australia, they are white males under the age of 34 living on the eastern seaboard, according to research undertaken last month. The research, carried out by Bitcoin.com.au, shows millennials are adapting to bitcoin, the peer-to-peer (P2P) digital currency, just like other systems of “collective commons” such as Uber and Netflix, which provide greater savings and efficiency to customers. Most of those Australians surveyed said they were using bitcoin for the purpose of investment. With the price of one bitcoin rising more than 500 per cent in the past 12 months (August 2016: $US600; August 2017: $US3200), it’s historically been a […]
Igniteme heats up crowdfunding
Australia’s newest fundraising platform, Igniteme, is looking to push the crowdfunding barrow beyond its traditional confines, having raised more than $1 million since its inception. Igniteme, put together by Australia’s first winner of The Apprentice, Andrew Morello, and former Australian Property Institute associate Kristjan Geering, covers a host of funding options, including charity donations, and private lenders offering loan facilities. There’s also a crowd-sourced equity funding feature that will come into play once the Australian equity crowdfunding legislation comes into effect late next month. The platform’s biggest project to date is raising money for an independent Australian full-length documentary on NSW one-punch attacks called The Polisher. It’s a bit left-field […]
