More than $1.4 billion in capital was secured by Australian Fintech firms in 2019 across 38 deals or partnerships, setting a new record. The significant increase in financial technology investments may be attributed (partially) to the rising number of rounds of at least $100 million, Fintech Global data confirms.
Around 72.8% of the total capital raised was invested in deals worth a minimum of $100 million, while the amount of funds invested in Fintech projects valued at below $100 million has been quite flat since the past couple of years.
During 2019, the record fundraising represented about half, or 47%, of the total capital secured in Australia over the last four-year period. Out of the 10 largest deals, one was carried out during the first quarter of last year, one in the second quarter of 2019, and six in Q3 2019 and two in Q4 2019.
Wealth technology (Wealthtech) and marketplace lending firms attracted the most capital when compared to all other areas, representing almost 60% of total Fintech funding in the country since 2015. Wealthtech firms accounted for 31.4% of the capital secured through fundraisers.
Australian marketplace lending firms represented 26.9% of the total investments in the country from 2015 to 2019. The biggest deal of last year was raised by AMP during the third quarter of 2019. AMP provides wealth management products and services to clients based in Australia and New Zealand. The firm secured $650 million via a post-IPO-equity round in August of last year.
The largest deal finalized during the last quarter of 2019 was from Athena Home Loans, which was led by AustralianSuper. The firm secured $47.9 million via a Series C round and intends to use the funds raised to expand its business and product offering, which will include loans for property purchases, a considerably larger market than it presently serves.
AirTree Ventures and Reinventure were reportedly the most active Australian investors from 2015 to 2019. Out of the 10 largest investors, seven are VC firms, which include Equity Venture Partners, Alium Capital, Square Peg Capital, AirTree Ventures, Reinventure, BridgeLane Capital and AMP New Ventures. The other three investors are startup project accelerators, including H2 Ventures and Startupbootcamp and Westpac, an established investment bank.