Aussie fintechs “flexing their muscles” after strong showing in KPMG’s Fintech100 list

A handful of Australia’s most successful and emerging fintechs have been named on KPMG’s Fintech100 list, with the report revealing booming investment and growth of fintech companies across the globe.

The list, which is compiled by investment firm H2 Ventures and big-four accountant KPMG, is split into two, with companies either making the ‘Leading 50’ or ‘Emerging 50’ list.

Companies in the Leading 50 are ranked based on their level of innovation, amount of capital raised and their size, while companies in the Emerging 50 are selected by KPMG and H2 Ventures for being at the “forefront of innovative technologies and practices”.

Only two Australian companies made it onto the Leading 50 list, with buy-now-pay-later market darling Afterpay coming in at number 26, and international transactions startup Airwallex sneaking into the list for the first time at number 49.

However, Aussie startups fared much better on the Emerging 50 list, with five other local fintechs making the cut.

This included blockchain-based agriculture startup Agridigital, credit card charge identifier Look Who’s Charging, energy trading startup Power Ledger, online lending business Trade Ledger, and money management company Nod.

In a statement, global co-lead of KPMG fintech Ian Pollari said Australia’s strong showing on the list demonstrated a thriving and growing fintech scene.

“Both Afterpay and Airwallex show that local fintechs with global ambitions are able to attract customers to scale beyond our shores and raise capital from international investors,” he said.

Pollari also pointed to the various sub-sectors of fintech seeing strong growth, with 14 wealth management companies and 12 insurtech companies featuring on the list.

“Notable this year is the emergence of neo-banks, with 10 on the list — which is the beginning of what we believe will be accelerated growth of digital banking models globally and in Australia,” he said.

Award means validation

Speaking to StartupSmart, founder of Trade Ledger Martin McCann says the recognition is fantastic for his two-year-old startup.

“One of the problems you face as a young startup is reception and validation in the marketplace while striving to do deals all the time. The nature of our business means it’s very long-term and complex, and the deals take a year or so to ramp up,” he says.

“So during that time, you look for other validation points, and awards like this which are judged by experts in the industry helps you provide that.”

Despite there being no prize bar recognition for being on the list, McCann says recognition will help his business stay “above the noise” and ahead of other competitors in the market.

Reflecting on the broader fintech industry in Australia, he says the country is a fantastic place to start a new business, and it was great to see more Australian ventures branch beyond “domestic companies”.

“We’re really starting to see Australian companies in fintech start to flex their muscles.”

The top 10 global fintech companies for 2018

1. Ant Financial (China)
2. JD Finance (China
3. Grab (Singapore)
4. Du Xiaoman Financial (Baidu Financial) (China)
5. Sofi (US)
6. Oscar Health (US)
7. Nubank (Brazil)
8. Robinhood (US)
9. Atom Bank (UK)
10. Lufax (China)

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