WINS KEEP COMING FOR SYDNEY’S FINTECH SCENE

The NSW Government has welcomed the decision from another global financial technology company to make Sydney its base of operations for its expansion into Australia.

Tilt, a consumer-facing fintech that helps customers to pool or collect money online, has announced its official launch into Australia.

Minister for Trade Stuart Ayres said Sydney was the obvious choice for fintech firms such as Tilt to expand into the lucrative Australian market.

“The wins keep on coming for Sydney’s fintech scene with firms like OnDeck, Acorns and Ripple Labs having already landed here in recent years,” Mr Ayres said.

“Tilt is exactly the sort of company we want to attract to NSW, with the crowdsourcing company growing rapidly and thanks to its uptake by millennials, is one of the fastest growing apps in the world across universities campuses.

“Sydney being the financial capital of Australia puts us at a natural advantage in attracting the best global firms, however we are not resting on our laurels and the NSW Government has put considerable energy in attracting investment in financial services and fintech in particular – a central part of our ever increasing innovation story.

“This month NSW announced it will be the first state to support fintech businesses through Austrade’s global landing pad initiative. We are sponsoring the first group of fintechs to be based in Israel.

“Last year, the NSW Government announced opportunities for five seats for Chinese startups at Sydney’s fintech hub Stone and Chalk. A ‘pitch event’ was held this month in Shanghai for those vying for the opportunity to expand in Australia, with the result to be known soon.

“Sydney is positioning itself as a leading Asia Pacific fintech hub with key strengths in blockchain, cyber security, peer to peer lending, wealth management and payments,” Mr Ayres.

Two Sydney based fintechs SocietyOne and Propsa, were the two Australian firms named in KPGM’s global Top 50 list for fintech innovators.