Equity crowdfunding a slow burn, advisers say
The legalisation of equity crowdfunding has met with enthusiasm from those hoping to raise money with it, but financial planners say it will be years before it is taken seriously by investors. Leading advisers contacted by The Australian Financial Review said no clients had approached them in relation to the new crowdsourced equity funding legislation, which was introduced by Treasurer Scott Morrison on Thursday. With Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos set to open The Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit in Sydney on Tuesday, the government is hoping equity crowdfunding will help bring start-ups and innovation closer to the average Australian, and boost support for the “ideas boom” agenda blamed for nearly […]
KKR spices up Pepper bid to whet investor appetite
The Kohlberg Kravis Robert team behind the $650 million bid for Pepper Group is working overtime to get shareholders on side, with the transaction not a done deal. The private equity giant is preparing a scheme booklet that will be sent to shareholders shortly to press on with its $3.60 a share offer. It is also prepared to offer holders shares in the KKR-controlled company making the bid. KKR beat out major rivals such as Bain and JC Flowers in July to land in the box seat to gain control of the major non-conforming lending business, which has been through a recent resurgence. Perpetual emerged as an early stumbling block […]
Peppermint secures strategic investment at a premium
Peppermint Innovation Ltd (ASX: PIL) announce a strategic placement agreement has been executed, for the investment of $1,000,000 at 2 cents per share via a placement of 50,000,000 shares in the Company, with an option to place a further $1,000,000 at a 25% premium to 5 day VWAP within 60 days from the first placement. The placement agreement has been executed between the Company and Smidge Digital Unit Trust, an Australian special purpose investment vehicle that subscribes for minority positions in innovative fintech and enterprise data analytics companies. Chris Kain, Managing Director & CEO comments: “This is a significant relationship with a strategic investor who has an intrinsic […]
Mike Cannon-Brookes leads $4m round in home energy fintech start-up Brighte
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has made his latest move in his ongoing effort to move the dial on Australia’s energy crisis, becoming the lead backer in a capital raising for home energy funding platform Brighte. The company, which was founded by former Macquarie Group senior manager Katherine McConnell in 2015, provides on-the-spot finance online for home energy improvements such as solar panels and home batteries. It promises to dramatically increase the number of homes installing renewable, clean energy equipment by taking away the often hefty upfront cost and making it easier and more affordable. Brighte raised an initial seed round of $3.5 million from high net worth investors and family […]
Westpac creates data accelerator
Westpac Banking Corp has created a “data accelerator” to build new technology businesses from anonymised data sets, and will offer access to it to institutional banking clients seeking to turn data into assets. FUELD, which has been set up in partnership with Stone & Chalk, will provide early-stage start-ups access to the Data Republic data-sharing platform. Westpac’s venture capital fund, Reinventure Group, is an investor in Data Republic. The accelerator will be run by the former CEO of Fishburners, Murray Hurps. Macgregor Duncan, Westpac’s co-head of business development, said start-ups which could emerge from the program may examine new credit models and applications for algorithmic real-time property valuations. Start-ups will […]
Picturewealth app that lets you take a ‘welfie’ pic of your finances raises $1.2m
A Perth start-up that claims to offer a snapshot of your finances – dubbed a “welfie” – has raised $1.2 million, led by the financial planning group that will distribute its app first. The funding for PictureWealth shows the excitement around personal budgeting fintechs created by the likes of Acorns and Pocketbook – both of which have raised millions in Australia – continues to spread. PictureWealth claims to allow users to aggregate information on all their assets, debts, expenses and insurance policies, viewable on one PC or smartphone screen at one time. “Until now, there hasn’t been a single space where people can view a picture of their personal wealth. […]
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 […]
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 […]
