Australia has a new bank, with fintech Alex granted a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution (Restricted ADI) licence from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). The digital bank has already been busy lending, writing more than $8 million in personal loans since it was founded in 2018. The neobank has already raised more than $35 million… Read more »
Small business transaction financing fintech Butn (ASX:BTN) went nowhere for investors on its ASX debut today with around 2% – 2.5 million – of the company’s shares traded before it, unusually, closing its first day of trade at the IPO price. Having raised $20 million at $0.50 a share for an indicative market capitalisation of… Read more »
Melbourne fintech Zeller turbo-charged its balance sheet a week before it launched in early May, with US firm Spark Capital leading a $50 million extension on its series A round, making it the country’s most valuable pre-launch startup. Existing backers Square Peg, Apex Capital Partners and Addition joined the latest raise. Founded by former Square… Read more »
Financial advice startup Lumiant, has extended its $1.17 million seed capital raise through equity crowdfunding site Equitise and is now looking to raise a further $2 million. The fintech it’s seeking the additional capital amid high demand for its services to investing in its ability to scale and increase distribution across Australia. Lumiant is a… Read more »
Three months ago, Lygon launched the world’s first digital bank guarantee using blockchain technology, marking the beginning of the end for the paper-based guarantee which has been the dominant form of contractual surety in the western world for around 200 years. The launch of Lygon was the first time a bank guarantee had been fully… Read more »
Multi-currency payments startup Paytron has raised a $4.35 million seed round as it launches it product for the SMB market. Australian VC fund Carthona Capital and Germany’s Picus Capital were the major backers in the raise. Co-founders and former banking execs Jaco Veldsman and Francois Henrion set out to address the pain point of small… Read more »
It’s no secret that when it comes to superannuation, Australian women continue to suffer undue and persistent disadvantage. A series of structural inadequacies and varied dynamics over the course of a woman’s life can, and in many cases do, lead to superannuation poverty. The concept of compulsory superannuation was designed with a full-time worker in… Read more »
Supermarket giant Woolworths is creating its own fintech startup by spinning out its payments business, Wpay, as a stand-alone venture offering end-to-end payment solutions to merchants outside the group. Woolworths is the nation’s fifth largest processor of card payments, worth more than $50 billion annually across more than 1.3 billion transactions. The move pushes Wpay… Read more »
Queenie Tan is full of financial advice. Whether it is cheap date ideas, buying furniture, saving your first $100,000, doing your tax return or investing in Dogecoin, there is seemingly no topic the 24-year-old Sydney woman can’t confidently tackle. Her posts and videos have gained her 15,000 followers on Instagram and 42,000 followers on TikTok.… Read more »
White-label payment technology provider, mx51, which last year span out of fintech Assembly Payments, has raised $25 million in its first round, led by Acorn Capital, Artesian, Commencer Capital and Mastercard. The Sydney-based fintech claims to be the first Australian fintech to develop a bank-grade, modern, Payment-as-a-Service platform, offering integrated payment solutions for merchants. Last… Read more »
ASX-listed payments platform Tryo (ASX: TYR) is spending $22.5 million to acquire NAB-backed digital health payment startup Medipass Solutions The deal gives an exit for the four-year-old Melbourne-based startup’s key investor, NAB Ventures. Founder Peter Williams and CEO Jonathan Davey will also sell their stakes, in the 100% acquisition by Tyro, but will remain with… Read more »
It’s arguable that 2020 was the hardest year that our emerging fintech sector ever faced. But as we all know, adversity breeds innovation. And nowhere was that more apparent than in the entries for this year’s Finnie Award submissions. We received a record 290 entries across 20 categories. Overall, the calibre of submissions was outstanding.… Read more »
Brisbane fintech EML Payments (ASX: EML) has released a white-label digital wallet giving lenders and other fintechs great access to Open Banking as part of the Consumer Data Right. The digital wallet, Nuapay, combines Open Banking with personal finance management and payments in a customisable solution digital solution, in a partnership with fellow fintech Frollo.… Read more »
Robo-advisor Unhedged has raised $500,000 in a pre-seed round ahead of the release of the fintech’s investor app. The round was backed by Canadian venture capital firm Loyal VC, plus 18 individual investors, predominantly through founder Peter Bakker’s MBA network. The raise is being used to build the headcount, as well as enabling the team… Read more »
Melbourne fintech Thrives, a banking, accounting, tax and lending platform for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), is putting together a customer advisory board (CAB) and plans to pay the people taking part in company shares in return for a 12-month commitment. CEO Michael Nuciforo said they looking for a range of business owners, who’ll meet monthly and… Read more »
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