Manning targets super funds for P2P investor
Former JANA asset consultant Joshua Manning will be raiding his contact book of super fund investment chiefs as he does the rounds pitching his new business, Manning Market Place. His vision for the start-up specialist investment fund is to focus exclusively on the burgeoning peer-to-peer lending sector. Peer-to-peer (P2P), otherwise known as marketplace lending, is the buzzword for the plethora of online-based or “fintech” start-ups gnawing at the edges of the big banks’ loan books. After leaving his day job at the asset consulting arm of National Australia Bank late last year, Manning’s first investment is a stake in the darling of the local P2P set, SocietyOne. Other shareholders in […]
Sapien Ventures’ first fintech investment is in Hashching
Wealthy Chinese migrants will help disrupt the Australian mortgage broking industry via an investment in Hashching, an online marketplace for home loans that is putting pressure on banks and their brokers. The investment will be the first for Sapien Ventures, which was established last year by Victor Jiang and has raised a $50 million fund to invest in fintech and online marketplaces. Much of the capital has been raised from high-net-worth Chinese migrants after changes to the Significant Investor Visa program last year that require migrants bringing $5 million into Australia to invest at least $500,000 in eligible venture capital. Sapien Ventures has invested $1 million in Hashching, and is […]
Focused fintechs get the nod from Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley once threw money at start-ups that aimed to disrupt broad swaths of finance. Now it is rewarding those that have sharpened their focus. While overall venture funding into lending start-ups is slowing, some platforms still are raising money by taking aim at narrower or less-traditional borrowing niches than the first generation of financial-technology firms. Faced with a glut of online lenders and cooling interest from investors in some loans, a newer crop of fintech start-ups is focusing on areas including loans for real-estate projects, people with poor credit ratings, car buyers and, at the extreme, people getting married. Venture funding for US lending start-ups dropped to $US298 million […]
Global FinTechs take on Big Four in new Australian frontier
When U.S.-based financial technology company Acorns launched in Australia in February, its mobile app that helps people invest loose pennies in stock markets received nearly 70,000 downloads in just over two months, beating its own expectations. The ‘virtual piggy bank’ chose Australia as its first foreign market thanks to the country’s deep Internet and mobile penetration and tech-savvy population, Managing Director George Lucas told Reuters. Acorns’ entry is a reflection of rising interest in Australia from overseas financial technology – or FinTech – companies, drawn by its heavy banking concentration and limited competition, consultants and financial advisors said. The country’s $348 million alternate finance lending market, which includes peer-to-peer lending […]
Fintech Market Growth to Add A$1 Billion New Value to Australian Economy by 2020
The global Fintech sector exhibited robust growth in 2014 when investment activity tripled to US$12.21 billion from US$4.05 billion in 2013. This activity continued in 2015 with an increase in global funding into Venture Capital (VC) backed Fintech startups. Fintech growth in 2015 was international, and Frost & Sullivan anticipates this international dispersion, as well as the global growth trend to continue with more Fintech companies successfully reaching the exit stage of funding in 2016. In the Asia-Pacific region, Fintech investments were concentrated in Australia, China and Singapore, and in 2015, skyrocketed to reach US$3.46b – a four-fold increase from 2014 to 2015. Asian Fintechs garnered strong support, with funding […]
Peer-to-peer SocietyOne completes $25m raising
Peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne has completed a $25 million round of funding, which was supported by its leading shareholders. SocietyOne, now led by former senior Westpac executive Jason Yetton, announced yesterday that its loan book had shot through the symbolically important $100m barrier in the first week of April. This came after strong growth from the beginning of the year, with personal loans and agribusiness finance jumping by $30m. While the funding round has been under way for several months, its completion is a show of faith in SocietyOne’s direction under Yetton, who was appointed early last month, and the lender’s growth trajectory. The company took six quarters until the second […]
Fintech sector held back by fear factor, not a lack of capital
A dearth of ideas and entrepreneurs, rather than capital, is the main barrier to innovation in Australia, delegates at the Australian Financial Review Banking & Wealth Summit heard on Wednesday. Chris Brycki, chief executive of online investment adviser Stockspot, said that high salaries and the low number of job losses in the financial services sector after the global financial crisis meant that few people were prepared to leave their employers and take the risk of starting a business. Mr Brycki’s comments run counter to the perceived wisdom that the unwillingness of Australian investors, particularly superannuation funds, to invest in start-ups is inhibiting their development. “I think the lack of capital […]
NAB enlists venture capitalists to invest in start-ups
National Australia Bank is turning to the venture capital sector to run its $50 million fund that will invest in fintech start-ups, a plan aimed at boosting innovation across the lender. The bank has appointed Todd Forest, an entrepreneur, angel investor and digital media executive, to run NAB Ventures, which expects to make its first investment in the next month or so. Alongside Mr Forest, NAB has hired Melissa Widner, one of the most senior women in Australian venture capital, who has also worked in the United States, as general partner. A co-founder of leading Australian fund Blackbird Ventures, Bill Bartee, will also work with the NAB fund as an […]
