Rewards startup OpenSparkz has secured $1.5 million in an over-subscribed second seed-funding round, despite being pre-revenue. Founded two years ago by chief executive Terry McMullen and co-founders Ian McKenzie, Debra Taylor and Nigel Lovell, OpenSparkz is a Platform-as-a-Service startup allowing consumers to consolidate multiple loyalty and points programs into one. The investment was led by … Read more
Category Archives: Fintech Back
Learning practical FinTech from successful companies (book)
Author: Yoshitaka Kitao In the past, the infrastructure referred to as banks was necessary, but IT companies like Amazon and Google that possess big data can handle operations such as payments even better than banks. Furthermore, linking AI to IoT is leading to a growing range of completely new business opportunities. This new phenomenon is … Read more
Coincast Media cuts out the jargon, rides the blockchain wave
While prices of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have dropped this year, fortunes have been much better for a Perth-based global news and media group specialising in the blockchain that underpins the technology. With a background in financial journalism at Bloomberg, Heidi Cuthbert (pictured) founded her digital PR agency Multiplier in 2016 with a focus … Read more
Happy birthday Bitcoin: What we can learn from its formative 10 years
A mysterious, anonymous entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto posted a white paper on October 31, 2008, entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. It was the first time the concept of Bitcoin entered the world. But outside of the cypherpunk mailing lists — those promoting the use of privacy-enhancing technology — this event was hardly noticed. Ten years on, who hasn’t at … Read more
Census: Australia’s fintech landscape in 2018
The 2018 EY FinTech Australia Census was released as part of FinTech Australia’s Intersekt Conference in Melbourne today. The census, now in its third year, paints a picture of a sector now well-established and coming into its own as a viable alternative within the financial services landscape. This corresponds to an overall maturing of the … Read more
Young, male and educated: Australian fintech has a type
Australia’s typical fintech founder is a bloke in his 40s with a postgraduate degree. That’s one of the findings of the 2018 EY Fintech Australia census, which shows 72 per cent of Australia’s financial technology startup employees and 81 per cent of founders are men. FinTech Australia chairman Alan Tsen says the sector is focused … Read more
Queensland blockchain startup TravelbyBit just won a $3.5 million investment from global cryptocurrency exchange Binance
Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance just invested $US2.5 million ($A3.48 million) in TravelbyBit, an Australian blockchain payments provider for the travel industry. The two will work together to introduce a point-of-sale (POS) payment system, incorporating blockchain technology, into major airports around the world. Queensland-based TravelbyBit enablises merchants to accept payments in digital currencies such as Bitcoin … Read more
Australians are embracing fintech as they move away from traditional payment solutions: Research
Australian appetite for fintech services is on the up, with non-bank contactless or card-less mobile payment solutions now being used more than bank-owned payment solutions, according to recent research from market research company Roy Morgan. The Roy Morgan Digital Payment Solutions Currency Report, which is based on more than 50,000 consumer interviews, suggests fintechs, including startups, are … Read more
How cryptocurrency is funding a facelift for Great Keppel Island
Australian island Great Keppel Island is set for a tech rejuvenation, backed by blockchain technology and the sale of its own coin offering. Through a security token offering (STO), investors will be able to purchase Great Keppel Island tokens (GKT tokens), each worth one billionth of the island. Tim Sommers, founder of Royalti Blockchain Group … Read more
Post-capitalist entrepreneurship : startups for the 99% (book)
Author: Boyd Cohen This book details the implications of the post-capitalist society on entrepreneurship around the globe, and it challenges many of our underlying assumptions about how entrepreneurs form startups and the objectives and roles, or lack thereof, of startup investors in a post-capitalist society. The author explores real emerging stories about different forms of … Read more