The FinTech Report

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 35: Sofie de Vreese, GM APAC, Expensify Expensify creates payments and expenses ‘Super app’ with Freemium pricing model To use Expensify’s own words; “We make expense reports that don't suck - get the app and play around for yourself”Expensify is a payments superapp that helps individuals and businesses around the world simplify the way they manage money. More than 10 million people use Expensify's free features, which include corporate cards, expense tracking, next-day reimbursement, invoicing, bill pay, and travel booking in one app. All free. Whether you own a small business, manage a team, or close the books for your clients, Expensify makes it easy so you have more time to focus on what really matters.Helping to spread Expensify's innovations in Expense Management across the APAC region and beyond, Sofie is a highly motivated, energetic and driven individual, with a great track record in working with cross functional teams and large client groups. Her expertise in marketing, sales and customer management has helped her consistently meet and exceed the challenges of rolling out and growing Expensify in the Asia Pacific region. Sofie has a natural passion for travel, people, different cultures including languages and am fluent in English, Dutch and French. Thank you to our sponsors and supporters:https://www.yodlee.com/au https://australianfintech.com.au/ https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/accounting-business-expo/index.stm 

Downsizer is a digital home-buying experience unlike any other! With Downsizer, anyone with sufficient equity in their current home can purchase a new dwelling with zero cash deposit. Downsizer has raised $3.75 million seed capital to accelerate the growth of its SaaS platform operating at the intersections of fintech, proptech and insurtech.Downsizer is helping property developers, real estate agents, financial advisors, mortgage brokers and lenders, and insurance brokers and underwriters engage with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers over 50.  The platform provides digital content and market insights for lead generation. It also has a national property marketplace where developers can list off-the-plan properties and access a real-time sales dashboard.For older owner-occupiers – who may not pass a traditional credit assessment – a Deposit Power Downsizer Bond simplifies the home moving process so that downsizers don’t have to raid their savings or superannuation, or sell their home, to exchange contracts. The bond is also available to investors, including Self-Managed Superannuation Funds.  Downsizer co-founder and managing director Mark Macduffie said the company aimed to help downsizers move so that they could “stop worrying and start living”.  In this podcast, Mark discusses the product, the partners they work with, the target market, fundraising, building the team, and international expansion plans.About Downsizer: https://www.downsizer.com/ About Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/macduffie/  Thank you to our supporters:Envestnet Yodlee: https://www.yodlee.com/au Australian FinTech: https://australianfintech.com.au/ Terrapinn and the Accounting Business Expo, March 2023: https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/accounting-business-expo/index.stm 

The FinTech Report Podcast: Joe Patrick at Astral Ventures Joe Patrick is the co-founder of Astral Ventures – a technology focussed corporate advisory firm based in Sydney, Australia. Astral has worked with some of Australia’s most exciting technology companies including Hivery, FrankieOne, ImmutableX, Spaceship and VC fund Blackbird Ventures, among many more. Astral Ventures is also the publisher of the ANZ VC Leaderboard which is a first of it’s kind initiative launched in February of this year. The VC Leaderboard enables founders to make more empowered decisions about whom to partner with - and for VCs to better understand how founders benchmark them against peers.Prior to founding Astral, Joe was an investment banker at JPMorgan. In this episode, we discuss:Joe’s finance background at JP MorganWhy the move to ventureWho are Astral Ventures? Track record, vision, missionHow Astral work with Founders and the early stage eco-systemRecent report – VC Leader board – grading the investorsMethodology: how do Founders ‘judge’ the investors?How can investors do better?Thoughts on the fintech funding eco-system: global macro trends, as well as local micro trends About Astral Ventures VC Leaderboard. 700 submissions from founders on 150 funds.With the data, Astral has created a founder NPS ranking tool - ranking the best VCs in the eyes of Australian and Kiwi founders. Astral decided to publish the top 25 funds, and have shown the remainder alphabetically. Astral’s intention is for founders to use this tool to make more empowered decisions about whom to partner with - and for VCs to better understand how founders benchmark them against peers.View the Astral Leaderboard report here: https://thelist.astralventures.com.au/ 

Trent McLaren, Founder, The Journeywww.letsjourney.com.au Trent’s just finished up a role with Weel (Previously DiviPay) as Head of Strategic Channels. Whilst Trent’s Officially hanging up the boots at Weel, his role there was an amazing roller coaster ride of growth and innovation and, like all startups, in a very short period of time.Trent worked with the co-founders as the team scaled from 15 to 55. Trent’s role in building partnerships to drive growth was and is key for Weel, and it’s a lesson that all startups need to understand. Trent was tasked with building and creating an accounting community that would help the business find new customers, increase brand awareness and create a team to help service the channel.A few key highlights from his time at WeelOnboarded over 600 accountants and bookkeepers into the Weel Partner Program (he had to build the program!)Over 1000 new clients were introduced to Weel through by their trusted advisor, through the Weel partner program.Trent Launched the new Weel brand at Xerocon as a platinum/event partner, where the team was described as everyone's new favourite app!This is a journey of rapid growth; and not everyone can achieve this type of growth – so we’ll explore that in this episode.In addition to being the Founder of Journey, a consultancy helping accounting tech platforms to grow and scale, Trent’s other new role is CEO of “From The Trenches” – which he describes as focused on "Real Life in Accounting", providing practical advice on things you need to know today in your role as an accountant or bookkeeper. From The Trenches is supported by a podcast, and online virtual accounting summits 

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 31; Kallan Hogan, Head of Business Development, Mastercard Australia & NZ  Key Points raised: Mastercard about connecting buyers and sellersMastercard is more than cards and payments; services also include: Digital ID, online fraud verification, biometrics technology, Ai that scores transactions for fraud, personalisation, loyalty etc Mastercard is a challenger, always looking to partner and create solutions; has global tech hub in Sydney/Australia, can do tech dev hereCase study: MX51Mastercard Global FinTech Accelerator program explained (Start Path, a 6 month intensive program)Mastercard working on bridge between Web2 and Web3 for payments; will use stablecoinsTrends to watch: Kallan mentions ESG, 5G/embedded finance, lending/risk models, banks moving off legacy tech, cloud/partnering with fintech as trends to watchMastercard growing: 90+ open positions in SydneyFinTechs can get in touch with Kalan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kallanhogan/Kallan Hogan is the Head of Business Development for Mastercard Australia and NZ. In this role, he leads a team focused on making the connection between buyers and sellers more efficient in an ever-changing digital world.  He is responsible for creating client-led solutions across Mastercard technology including tokenisation, loyalty solutions, cybersecurity, open banking, personalisation, marketing, data analytics and other services. Prior to joining Mastercard, Kallan held multiple leadership roles at American Express and has experience driving brands across diverse regions having worked in Sydney, London, Singapore and Chicago. Mastercard has evolved from a payments company to an innovative technology and services provider focused on broader payment opportunities in the retail, technology, government and finance industries. In Australia, Mastercard is committed to enabling all stakeholders - issuers, acquirers, merchants and consumers - with the latest technology and services to connect and protect, safely and seamlessly. As one of the world’s leading payment network operators, Mastercard is widely known and trusted. Today, the company is enthusiastically harnessing the digital revolution as it seeks to accelerate innovations beyond payments using new technologies and capabilities. FinTechs can get in touch with Kalan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kallanhogan/ 

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 30; Simon Burt, Head of Digital Customer Experience and Innovation, Newcastle Permanent Building SocietyKey Points:NPBS future is about Partnerships NPBS not trying to be a digital only bank, but wants to partner with fintechs to stay competitive and serve customers betterBank branches are now ‘digital classrooms’ for customersOpen Banking will change the bank-customer relationship for the betterData first approach for decision makingMerger provides scale, which allows bank to invest more in technologySimon Burt is Head of Digital Customer Experience and Innovation at Newcastle Permanent Building Society, a role he’s had for over 5 years. Simon has been with NPBS for over 15 and has worked across both branch banking as well as home loans. Prior to his 15 years with NPBS, he spent 10 years with American Express on the FX part of the business. NPBS provide financial services, including accounts, home and personal loans, debit and credit cards, and insurance, but are not a bank. They are a mutual building society; NPBS is owned by the customers, not by shareholders.Newcastle Permanent was established in 1903. They are regulated by the Banking Act 1959 (Cth), and supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). Their motto is: ‘Here for Good’.In November 2022, Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank agreed to a merger. The merged organisation will have more than $20 billion in total assets and 600,000 customers, and benefit from almost 200 years of combined operating history.The new merged entity, will be called: Newcastle Greater Mutual Group Ltd In this interview we cover:Simon’s role at NGMG?Why NGMG?What is NGMG’s interest in fintech? What pain point do you solve for fintechs?Who are your potential customers? What is your ‘sweet spot’?How do you asses risk when dealing with fintechs? Expansion plans?Open Banking – benefit to fintechs & banks? Simon always keen to meet with fintechs looking to partner: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonburt2300/  

The Fintech Report Podcast: Episode 29; Cameron Dart, CEO & Founder, Australian FinTechGiving fintechs a voice is our key mission, says Dart Vision is to cover all major fintech markets Separate newsletters launched for PropTech and Blockchain FinTech India to launch in 2023 Cameron explains his background and what led him to start Australian FinTech; finance career kicked off with a merchant bank in London; then moved to Morgan Stanley in Sydney; then property development in Australia/Gold Coast.Started kids website (ebay for kids products); almost killed by arrival of GumTree and Facebook Marketplace – lots of lessons learnt on technology, disruption, timing etc – taught Cameron the risks involved in technology sector.Started next project with business partner who started Australia’s first online life insurance business.Huge interest in fintech, so started Australian FinTech – newsfeed, directory of companies; started with 60, now grown to over 1000 members. Cameron says there are 1400 fintechs in Australia. Now seven years old; keeps growing as industry grows.Daily newsletter covers all fintech; covers news on small startups to ASX/NASDAQ listed fintechs. “Give a voice to fintech companies,” is the key mission says CameronPublish approx. 1200 articles per year – 40,000 social media followers (30k on LinkedIn). Tuesday and Thursday newsletter goes to 5000 subscribers.Members get priority regarding news with links back to member websites. Audience has changed over time; also, Cameron also experienced how audience value news.Most disappointing aspect of fintech: failure of Xinja and Volt.Most promising aspect of fintechs; fintechs partnering to take on the big banksCameron discusses global expansion plans: tried ‘international fintech’ but it didn’t work – so Cameron built country specific websites for FinTech USA, UK and Ireland. “People only care about what’s in their backyard”Cameron just launched FinTech UAE: will add many more in the years ahead – especially India for 2023. Cameron surprised by how deep/big the Aussie fintech market is vs UK, USA etc (even given population numbers)“Australian FinTech is the stage on which Aussie fintechs can ‘go global’” says CameronGoing global also means Cameron can partner with various fintech events in markets like FinTech Week in UK.Cameron says he’d like to see the neo-banks grow and prosper; big banks have had a monopoly for so long, it needs to change. Cameron launched a Blockchain and Crypto site, as well as a PropTech news website 

Our Guest today is Caleb Gibbins, Founder of Cache Invest  – Cache provide Investing as-a-Service so that any company can be a Fintech company.You can integrate Cache’s fully digital investment products directly into your existing app, website or other platform through their APIs. Caleb discusses the following on this episode of The FinTech Report Podcast•Developments in micro-investing over the last 12 monthsoHelping people start investing and invest regularlyoThere are now 2 million micro-investors in AustraliaoMicro-investors don’t stop investing during a downturn – Cache data shows 19 investments for each withdrawal (95% of transactions are inflows)•Developments at Cache  over the last 12 monthsoCache supports 77% of micro-investing portfolio products in the market (10 / 13)oFintech Award – Innovation in Wealth Management.  Received because Cache enables other companies to offer branded investment products to their customers•Looking forward to the next 12 monthsoGrowth in micro-investingoThe entry of banks and other players into the market (to reflect the US and UK experience)

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 26: Santiago Burridge - CEO & Co-Founder at Lumiant About SantiagoSantiago “Santi” Burridge founded Lumiant in 2020 to support financial Advisers in delivering on the promise of advice by creating a software-supported advice experience.According to Santiago, Financial Advice needs to expand beyond investments and into every facet of a client’s financial life. With Advisers understanding what truly drives their clients.About LumiantLumiant is a cloud-based advice and client engagement platform, where clients and their advisors connect around their lives, values and finances. Lumiant’s goal is to remove key person dependency by creating a memorable, measurable, and repeatable process that anyone can deliver. We’ll take a deep dive into what this means and how it’s delivered.Please note that this discussion is not financial advice and you should seek professional advice that suits your individual investment needs. Key points in this interview: ●       Santi wants to support the industry in transitioning away from product led to advice led, which is largely driven through a values-based or life-centric advice process●       There was very little technology on the market to support advisors in this transition - there are platforms, CRMs and tools that help put clients in portfolios or products but nothing to cater for the wants and needs of clients throughout their entire lives.●       According to Santi, financial advisors have incredible conversations that essentially get butchered and turned into 80 page SOAs, risk profiles and performance reports which mean very little to clients - it’s like handing them an MRI scan and expecting them to understand what they are looking at with no professional training or experience.●       So Santi wanted to create a platform that would bring advisors’ superpowers to life - their ability to connect deeply with their clients and understand everything there is to know about their lives and their families. Santi wants to turn the qualitative, extraordinary unstructured conversations into structured, quantifiable and measurable dashboard that brings to life what’s important to a client and their family. With this information, Lumiant can better define a financial plan that will help clients to live their best life●       Lumiant is comprised of several modules to help with client discovery, trade-off conversations, keeping clients on track and accountable, and bring to life the intangible value of advice. Modules include:○        Your Life - our short assessment that acts as a lead gen tool that gets clients to inform you what areas of their lives are most important to them - based on the 8 Dimensions of Wellbeing○        Your Values - our deep discovery values-based advice process that gets to the heart of what clients truly care about○        Your Goals - our SMART goal tracker that lets clients inform their advisor on what they want to achieve to live a life aligned to their values○        Your Wealth - connects with investment and open banking providers to provide the overall net worth of a household in one place○        Your Best Life - Lumiant’s multi-goal optimization engine, with Monte Carlo simulations, enables you and your clients to scenario plan and model their best life. Clients can immediately see if they’re on track, underfunded, or overfunded helping them to make better, more informed life decisions●        Since Lumiant launched in Australia in February 2021 and the US in May 2022, Lumiant have over 150 advisors from almost 50 practices

The FinTech Report Podcast: Episode 25: Interview with Raaj Rayat, Investor, Airtree Ventures Raaj Rayat is an early stage venture investor with Airtree Ventures. Prior to Airtree, Raaj launched Lendable in Nariobi (Kenya), London and Sydney. Lendable is a FinTech that uses data science to expand fair access to financial services in emerging markets. Raaj Helped scale Lendable from $0 to $200m+ invested across 10+ countries in 4 yearsAirTree is a venture capital firm with a mission to back the most ambitious Australian and Kiwi founders, building the iconic technology companies of tomorrow. Airtree pride themselves on saying they are “right by a founder's side, right from the start, often investing pre-product and pre-revenue to support startups from the earliest stages of their journey” Airtree has a portfolio of 80+ companies, and has been an early investor in many breakout tech companies, including: Canva, Go1, A Cloud Guru, Pet Circle, Immutable, Employment Hero, and Linktree, and a number of other exciting fintechsIn this episode, Raaj and Glen discuss:What got Raaj into VCAirtree’s fintech investmentsRaaj’s thesis on fintechWhat excites you in fintech? (eg lending, proptech, insuretech, defi, digital assets etc)We are in a funding ‘winter’ – what impact is this having? (Valuations etc) what do you say to your founders?What do you like/want to invest in? (stage, size, sector etc) What do you look for? Founding team, idea, traction, customers, ability to scale etcAirTree web3 investmentsWhat’s your thesis on digital assets and digital currencies? (DeFi vs Trad Fi)Future of fintech - Thoughts on DeFi and Blockchain (digital assets etc)If you are an early stage FinTech (& web3, DeFi, wealth tech, PropTech etc) and want to contact Raaj, please use this email. Contact: Raaj Rayat: Email: raaj@airtree.vc