Aussie fintech investment reaches $3 billion after 250% growth… but don’t celebrate just yet
Summary
Dan Teper, KPMG head of fintech for Australia, called 2019 a “breakout year” for the Australian ecosystem, pointing to innovation in the banking and lending space, as well as in property, insurance and superannuation. Indeed, there has been a flurry of activity in the Australian neobank scene over the past 12 months or so, with challengers Xinja, Volt, 86 400 and Judo all securing their full authorised deposit-taking institution licences and launching their early products. We’re also seeing lending services such as Athena — noted in the report for its $70 million Series C round in October, while alternative superannuation providers are also emerging. It’s possible this plays into a wider trend in Australia and worldwide of more and more money being invested in scale-ups, with average deal sizes increasing and volume decreasing. If more money is being invested into M&A activity, that could prove to be just another promising headline figure veiling a problem for the Aussie, and global, startup ecosystem.