Fintech fund Reinventure seeking riskier investments
Armed with a $50 million cheque from Westpac and many lessons from their first fund, Danny Gilligan and Simon Cant are dialling up the risk. Not the type that raises eyebrows in banking, but rather trying to get more blockbuster returns out of the more mainstream fintech industry, even if that means failing often. “If you look at the data out of the US, the greatest risk as a venture capitalist is that you don’t take enough risk,” Gilligan told The Australian in their first interview since the founders of venture capitalist group Reinventure raised their second fund. “The worst-performing VC funds in the US, 50 per cent of the […]
SMEs need protection from online Payday Lenders
In 2015, online SME lending in Australia was around $250m, up from a zero base two years ago. Growth will continue exponentially and online SME lending will become a significant alternative source of funding for Australia’s SMEs. Online lenders perform an important role by lending to thousands of SMEs that would otherwise struggle to attract support from a bank. I am a big supporter of this sector but am concerned that many SMEs don’t understand what they are getting themselves into when they borrow from some lenders that could be more accurately described as SME payday lenders to SMEs. These concerns together with suggestions as to how the interest of […]
Brexit provides lessons for Australia’s FinTech start-ups
[ Extract ] Lessons for Australia Australia’s FinTech scene, scarcely acknowledged eighteen months ago, has developing rapidly and now commands the attention of policymakers, banking executives and the financial media here alike. We have a highly advanced financial services sector, one that is acknowledged globally as mature, skilful and well regulated. It contributes around AU$140 billion to GDP each year and employs some 450,000 people. We have the fourth largest pool of investment funds in the world, anchored by the AU$2 trillion-plus in our nation’s superannuation funds. That a viable FinTech ecosystem has developed Down Under should therefore come as no surprise. Australian start-ups span the FinTech spectrum across peer-to-peer […]
