In 2019, Australia’s fintech industry continued to grow and mature. By the end of the year, the country was home to 629 active fintechs, which is a 8% increase since September 2018, according to the KPMG Australian Fintech Landscape 2019.
Fintech companies raised a record of US$1.4 billion through 38 deals last year, according to data from Fintech Global. Of this total, 72.8% was invested in transactions valued at or above US$100 million, or so-called mega-rounds.
In 2020, local fintech companies are expected to continue witnessing strong growth, with research firm Frost & Sullivan estimating revenue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 76.3% and exceed A$4 billion by 2020.
With the Australia fintech industry set to reach new highs in 2020, we look today at the 10 hottest Aussie fintech startups to watch out for in 2020.
Airwallex
Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Airwallex is a cross-border payments unicorn that has developed a proprietary tech-driven infrastructure which enables low-cost, high-speed and transparent international collections and payments.
The company recently launched, the Airwallex Borderless Card for businesses, in partnership with Visa. The Airwallex Borderless Card is linked to a customer’s Airwallex account and allows them to pay suppliers in seconds. The card debuted in Australia earlier this week and will be available in other markets around the world, including the UK and Hong Kong, later this year.
Airwallex has been on an expansion journey and has established ten international offices across Hong Kong, Melbourne, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, London, San Francisco, Tokyo and Bangalore. The startup has secured over US$200 million in external funding so far.
Athena Home Loans
Founded in 2017, Athena Home Loans is an online-only mortgage provider based in Sydney providing competitive interest rates and personalized customer service to help customers save time and money.
As of October 2019, the company said it had helped customers save a cumulative of over A$70 million over the life of their loans.
Athena has raised A$110 million in funding so far and is backed by investors including Macquarie Bank, Square Peg, Hostplus, Rice Warner, Apex Capital, RESIMAC Group and Airtree Ventures.
Daisee
Founded in 2017 in Sydney, Daisee is a regtech startup that has developed a proprietary semantic engine that interprets meaning in conversations between businesses and their customers.
The solution applies artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to analyze unstructured voice data at scale, automatically scoring each call and continuously flagging those considered “high risk.”
Daisee’s backers include Alium Capital, Thorney Investments and a range of sophisticated private investors.
Judo Bank
Formally launched in 2018, Judo Bank is a challenger bank focused on small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) lending. It currently offers a range of financing options for businesses, with its products enabled by new technology and backed by traditional relationship banking.
After just nine months of operation, the bank had amassed A$1 billion in deposits, the Australian reported in January.
Headquartered in Melbourne, with offices in Sydney, and Brisbane, Judo Bank has plans to grow further in the coming months.
Moula
Established in 2013, Moula is a loan service company that helps SMEs borrow money to grow their business. By integrating business’ accounting data with its world-class tech, Moula can process applications and make responsible lending decisions within minutes, and businesses can access the credit they deserve the following day.
Moula has experienced strong growth over the past five years, processing over 20,000 business loan applications and growing its loan book by 124% in 2019.
The startup raised in December a A$20 million Series D funding round, bringing the total amount raised so far to A$50 million.
Practifi
Practifi is a business management platform designed for growing financial advice businesses around the world. Practifi allows financial advisors, family offices and broker dealers to manage their client relationships, monitor compliance and automate workflows, all through an easy-to-use interface.
Practifi raised a A$24 million Series B funding round last month, which it said it will use to scale the team, expand presence around the globe, and invest in the software platform.
Sempo
Founded in 2017, Sempo is a blockchain payments company that builds inclusive infrastructure for emerging markets. Sempo’s lightweight wallet was designed to connect unbanked people in remote communities, allowing people to send and receive money seamlessly.
Sempo has worked with top international NGOs such as Oxfam and Mercy Corps to deliver cash transfer programs and enable financial inclusion. Its investors include Startmate, Blackbird Ventures, dLab, and SOSV.
Slyp
Founded in 2017, Slyp is a digital receipts platform that allows retailers to send interactive smart receipts instantly to a consumer’s banking app, via SMS and via email. For customers, Slyp enables them to pay with their bank card and automatically receive an itemised tax receipt inside their banking app.
Slyp is currently integrating into the NAB banking app, which is expected to be live for the bank’s customers soon. The startup is also working with other major banks in Australia.
Slyp’s Investors include ANZ, NAB, Westpac Ventures (Reinventure) and Scentre Group (Westfield).
Xinja
Up is an Australian mobile-only digital bank designed, developed and delivered through a collaboration between Ferocia, a software company, and Bendigo Bank.
Up runs on users’ smartphone, and provides them with an app and a debit card linked to a real bank account. Some of its most noteworthy features include signing-up in as little as 3-minutes in-app, seamless merchant identification, instant in-app Apple Pay activation, real-time conversational payments, automated round-ups, spending insights, and more.
Up doesn’t charge any monthly account keeping fee, and is free for most standard use.
