Home / Archive / Australian FinTech Firms Recognized as World Leaders in FinTech

Australian FinTech Firms Recognized as World Leaders in FinTech

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:51 PM
Rebecca Campbell
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:51 PM

The annual FinTech 100 list has listed nine Australian FinTech companies among the world’s leaders in the sector, according to a report by StartupSmart , an Australian publication for the startup community.

Compiled by H2 Ventures and KPMG FinTech, it listed Prospa, Tyro, and Society One within the top 50 established leaders category, and HashChing, Afterpay, Brighte, Data Republic, Identitii, and Spriggy within the top 50 emerging firms.

Speaking to StartupSmart, Beau Bertoli, Prospa founder and CEO, said that it was a major achievement to be recognized alongside of firms such as Square, Xero, and Stripe.

 

He said:

We’re the highest ranking Australian-only business and for us as a company, it’s really satisfying to be leading the charge for the Australian FinTech community.

 

He added that it’s good to see that Australia is finally receiving the recognition that it deserves.

[Australia] may have started late but we’re building really good businesses across the broad FinTech sector.

 

China Leads the Way

However, while Australia may be branching out and producing good businesses, the list found that four Chinese companies made it in the top five with eight firms listed in the top 100. Ant Financial claimed the top spot for established leaders, which was followed by Qudian, Lufax, and ZhongAn.

This is compared to the U.K., which is considered the number one stop for FinTech startups, but only managed to get 13 firms in the top 100 with only one U.K. firm, Atom Bank, in the top ten.

Beijing_roads
China is quickly gaining ground as a Fintech destination.

China is clearly a nation to watch, which has reportedly gone from producing just one FinTech firm on the list to now producing 13 companies.

Since last year’s list investors backing FinTech 100 firms have provided an extra $19.2 billion in funding capital.

According to Toby Heap, H2 Ventures, this is a good indication as the sector continues to produce disruption.

 

He said:

The continued dominance of China, which rapidly rose last year to take the top spot, tells only part of the story. We are seeing the emergence of exciting FinTech players in countries across the world, from India to Israel, from Portugal to the Philippines.

 

London Still the Number One?

Of course, this then begs the question as to whether the U.K. will still be a leader in the sector over the next few years.

With the likes of China dominating this year’s list it remains to be seen where the U.K. will stand next year.

Featured image from Shutterstock.