Seven Australian firms among world's top FinTech innovators
KPMG and H2 Ventures have released their annual compilation of the FinTech 100, recognising the globe’s top innovators in the financial technology (FinTech) space. Seven Australian companies made the list, making it the fifth most represented country.
The US is home to the most FinTech innovators, with 15 firms on the list, followed by the UK with 11, China with 10 and India with 8. In terms of function, most front running FinTech companies are active in the payments & transactions domain. Other popular domains include wealth & brokerage, insurance, and lending & credit.
The FinTech 100 list comes just two months after a KPMG report found that investment in FinTech companies across the globe appear to have slowed at the start of this year. The slow growth permeated to the Australian market as well, where FInTech investments plummeted by 50% between the first half of 2018 and the first half of this year.
Nevertheless, the firm stressed that the numbers reflect a pause rather than a stop for the FinTech sector across the globe, and the low investment figures are a result of fewer major transactions carried out in the FinTech space globally. The use of FinTech services is however on the rise, with a recent FinTech Adoption Index compiled by Big Four accounting and advisory rival EY revealing a spike in FinTech adoption across Australia.
Amid the scarcity of deals that were closed this year, one deal stood out in Australia. FinTech firm Airwallex raised $100 million in Series C funding in March this year. Airwallex – which offers global payment solutions – has made KPMG and HR Ventures’ FinTech 100 list as the top firm in Australia, ranking in 32nd place worldwide.
Number 33 is also an Australian firm. Victoria-based SME lender Judo Bank came in just under Airwallex, having raised $140 million in equity this August. Afterpay Touch – a Melbourne-based firm that deals in deferred digital payment solutions – came in as the third highest Australian firm in 47th place.
The remaining four Australian firms – Athena Home Loans, Diasee, Alyp and Sempo – all featured in the Top 50 Emerging Firms list. Quoted in Business insider, KPMG Fintech Lead in Australia Ian Pollari highlighted how the growth of FinTech is a new and exciting phenomenon.
“Australia’s FinTech ecosystem continues to perform well – with established players like Airwallex and AfterPay expanding globally and SME challenger, Judo raising substantial capital. We are also seeing a continued pipeline of new FinTech innovators being launched in Australia – with all four of our local emerging list founded in 2017,” said Pollari.
