Acorns app hits 100,000 users
In a sign more Australians are looking to invest in their financial futures, over 100,000 users have signed up for micro-investing app Acorns since its launch in Australia in February. Hitting that milestone not only proved the app’s rapid rise in popularity, but it showed a trend among Australians “to look beyond the big four banks for investment and savings opportunities”, Acorns said yesterday. Acorns Australia managing director George Lucas said the app’s success was driven by young Australians who had discovered the benefit of making modest but regular investments, displaying an appetite for fintech innovation that quickly exceeded the growth rate of that experienced comparatively by users in the […]
Quantifeed Raises US$4.5 Million in Series A Funding
Quantifeed, a leader in digital wealth management solutions in Asia, has reached a significant milestone by closing US$4.5 million in a Series A financing round. Shanghai-based PGA Venture Partners led the investment. The funds will enable Quantifeed to accelerate expansion in key markets in the Asia Pacific region, including China. “The battle in digital wealth management will be won by the institutions with the strongest distribution and the richest customer experience. We are working with some of the top institutions in Asia to build them a customer investment journey,” said Alex Ypsilanti, CEO and Co-founder of Quantifeed. “PGA Venture Partners has an incredible track record of building successful companies and […]
Telstra Ventures poised to invest in Blockchain
Telstra is looking to invest in blockchain companies that could help the telecommunications giant profit from a boom in mobile banking. Rocky Scopelliti, a Telstra executive responsible for the telco’s relationships with its clients in the banking, finance and insurance industries said the company is doing its research on blockchain developers with a view to finding potential future partners. A blockchain is an online ledger designed to underpin the trading of digital currencies, such as bitcoin, or other types of digital payments or contracts. The nascent technology is widely tipped to have a profound effect on the global banking sector in the future. “It [blockchain] is a significant and active […]
ThinkForex rebrands to ThinkMarkets and launches ThinkTrader
ThinkForex, the leading provider of financial derivatives trading, has rebranded to ThinkMarkets and has launched ThinkTrader, its own multi-asset trading platform. With several thousand clients around the world – the new brand represents ThinkMarket’s ambition to become the world’s largest provider of foreign exchange, contracts for difference and spread bets. Essential to this development is maintaining ThinkMarket’s core values of offering its clients sophisticated but simple to use trading mechanisms, supported by high quality educational material and advanced analysis. The launch of ThinkTrader is integral to this progress. Based on the firm’s history of innovation, security and reliability, ThinkTrader was built entirely in-house and offers traders access to: Intuitive user […]
Fintech startup CurrencyVue levelling the playing field for small businesses
Aiming to shake up the global foreign exchange industry, local fintech startup CurrencyVue officially launched their innovative foreign exchange risk management platform today. The startup is backed by a private investor group including ex-SAP CEO Les Hayman and Head of Group Treasury at Tatts Group Limited Cale Bennett and is led by its founder and CEO, former foreign exchange and hedging solutions specialist Matt Tyrrell. The cloud software as a service (SaaS) platform is targeting small and medium sized businesses (SME’s) enabling them to quickly and easily identify foreign exchange risk through a visual representation of their exposure. Mr Tryrell said the devaluation of the Pound following Brexit was a significant recent example […]
What a peer-to-peer business loan looks like
RateSetter’s most recent release of its loan book data reveals the new age of business lending. In the one month since the launch of its business lending arm, peer-to-peer (P2P) lender RateSetter has funded nearly 100 business loans. The latest release of its loan book data, which includes every loan originated through RateSetter since its launch in later 2014, includes these business loans, and provides us with a snapshot of what alternative business finance looks like in Australia. Business owners have been embracing lenders outside of the Big Four and other more traditional lenders. According to a recent survey by eBroker, more than $1.1 billion worth of loan applications has […]
SocietyOne, Australia’s leading marketplace lender, appoints new board director
SocietyOne, Australia’s leading marketplace lender, today announced the appointment of Brett Clegg to its board as a non-executive director. Mr Clegg is Managing Director of News Corp Australia’s Community Publishing division. Among his responsibilities are its community titles in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, SMB digital marketing services provider newsXtend, and the company’s investments in a range of disruptive technology companies including hipages and Sports Technology Group. Prior to spells with News Corp’s The Australian newspaper where he was deputy chief executive and later Fairfax Media’s CEO and Publisher of the Financial Review Group, Mr Clegg was a journalist, columnist and senior editor on the Australian Financial Review. He […]
New online platform ESIC Hub to accelerate benefits for early-stage companies and investors
A new online platform – ESIC Hub – is the first in Australia for high net worth investors and early-stage companies seeking to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax relief and funding. From this month, high net worth and sophisticated investors, including SMSFs, are eligible for new tax incentives of up to $200,000 a year when they invest in an early-stage investment. However, under new legislation, the company seeking the funding must qualify as an “ESIC” or “Early Stage Innovation Company”, or the investor will miss out. ESIC Hub founder Stephen Crowe, who has advised multi-national and Australian firms for more than 30 years, […]
