Category Archives: Financial Services

Pitch X – Launch Into A New Decade

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Last week I was invited to be one of the judges at the final Pitch X event of 2019 (and of this decade), organised by Academy Xi and Melbourne Silicon Beach Group, and hosted by YBF Ventures. My fellow judges were Abena Ofori of MAP and Michelle Bourke of Foresight Digital.

As usual with Pitch X, each pitch was given 90 seconds to present, and the top 3 were then invited back for a 5 minute pitch. After each pitch, the panel of judges were given time for Q&A. The pitches in order of presentations in the first round were:

MotionAI

Remote monitoring system for people who require care, in case they fall or need assistance in their home. Designed around a combination of machine learning, AI and motion sensors (that don’t track facial recognition). Only decision-based information is sent to the monitoring network.

Sola.io

Investment platform to fund solar power under a virtual power plant structure, bringing together investors and producers, who might not otherwise have access to the financial and production benefits of this renewable energy resource.

Oyumz

Bringing home-cooked meals to the food delivery market. Currently in beta launch, looking to bring on new cooks and suppliers. Limited number of providers at this stage, and having to manage regulatory (food hygiene and licensing) and logistical (delivery, inventory, geography) challenges.

CPAP Buddy

Developing CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) oxygen masks, designed for premature babies, and intended to prevent brain damage or other injury that can arise from incorrectly fitted or poorly designed devices. Combines real-time monitoring with continuous visual feedback and detection of interfacial contact pressure.

Travels by TM

Helping people to gain the confidence and resilience to go travelling alone. Part curated travel planner, part counselling course, part self-help guide. As judges, we felt it was difficult to see how this business would scale, given the very personal nature of the service.

Mentor Community

Positioned as a match-making mentoring platform, it is designed to overcome some of the challenges people can experience in trying to find a suitable or appropriate mentor. Very difficult to know what technology is being deployed (to match mentors and mentees), in what is an uneven “market place” – more people seeking mentors than there are people willing or able to mentor them. And no opportunity to examine the financial model.

Fulfilled

Bringing “zero waste” cleaning products to the market. Distributes concentrates, that simply need diluting in water, and avoids the use of single-use packaging. Using Australian-produced botanical ingredients. There was some confusion on the business model – the pitch mentioned a home delivery subscription service, and supplying to professional cleaning companies.

VibeDate

Describing itself as a curated service offering unique and personalised dating experiences. No doubt there is a market for outsourcing your date decisions (or just to get some fresh ideas), but this was another pitch that would be difficult to scale, and again, it wasn’t clear how technology is being deployed in the solution.

PetMate

A total marketplace for pet products, services and solutions that also uses ML, AI and data analytics to track, recommend and predict your pets’ needs.

Cari

Another customised CPAP solution for premature babies, but also targeting neo-natal infants with sleep apnea conditions. Already at prototype stage (and scoping manufacturing options for medical grade silicon), but with at least 2-3 years of clinical trials before achieving medical device approval, the team have already identified multiple channels to market including hospital purchasing committees.

The three winning finalists were 1st: Sola.io; 2nd: MotionAI; and 3rd: Cari

As part of their prize, the winners will be featured in this blog in the near future. Stay tuned for more updates…

Next week: Signing off for Saturnalia

Startup Vic’s Impact Pitch Night

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Last month’s Startup Vic’s Pitch Night focused on Impact investing. Hosted by Startup Vic and the Giant Leap Fund (part of the Impact Investment Group), it was held at the Goods Shed with support from Stone & Chalk, Weploy, Pawa, Pak360, Waste Ninja and Marketing Entourage. The MC on the night was Mike Davis of the Humans of Purpose podcast, with an opening address by The Hon, Martin Pakula, Victorian Minister of Jobs, Innovation and Trade. The Minister made some announcements regarding the establishment of Angel Networks in Victoria.Given that Impact investment is demonstrating a propensity to generate better returns, this is a topic of growing interest alongside ethical investing, corporate social responsibility and the move towards ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) reporting.

The Judging Panel was drawn from Work180, YourGrocer, Australian Impact Investments and Impact Investment Group.

Pitches in the order they presented (websites embedded in the names) were:

The Neighbourhood Effect

With the goal of making the transition to green living easier, this startup has been featured here before. It comprises an app-based solution and uses behavioural science to map a user’s carbon footprint. It also uses gamification to make recommendations linked to location and lifestyle preferences.

Generating revenue from referral fees and subscriptions, the team are targeting energy retailers and banking services among the first commercial partners, and have already attracted $100k via paid pilots and Crowdfunding. The judges sought clarity on what exactly the product “does”, and how localised the solutions can be.

Gecko Traxx

Unusually for these regular pitch nights, this is a tangible, manufactured product – a solution for portable and affordable off-road access for wheelchair users. It takes the form of an accessory attached to the existing wheels – expanding the surface area and increasing traction. With a James Dyson national design award, and as a member of the University of Melbourne Accelerator Prgram for 2019, the team already have15 re-sellers lined up. With a proposed retail price of $599 (and costing $95 to manufacture) the device is NDIS eligible, making it more accessible.

The judges were keen to understand the addressable market as opposed to the profile and size of the actual user base – for example, does the device appeal to users of both motorised and self-propelled wheelchairs? How does it fit in with other categories of assisted mobility products and devices? Had the team considered crowdfunding? What is the startup’s status as a NFP? What is the marketing plan?

Sempo

This startup offers a solution for inclusive payments and savings for the 1.7bn people in emerging markets who remain unbanked. Using Blockchain technology, Sempo claims to be backed by a global reserve token pegged to multiple local currencies – but it wasn’t clear which assets comprise the treasury ecosystem.

Part of the use case is to get cash to victims in crisis quickly without the associated NGO costs. With 4% transaction fees (as opposed to the typical 20% incurred by other soluitons) Sempo seeks to avoid regulatory controversy since it is not claiming to be an unofficial local currency.

Typical transaction costs comprise a 1-3% exchange fee, and a 0-1% transfer fee. Part of the solution is to grow local, in-market capacity, particularly for remittance services. With an AfterPay investor on board, the founders are seeking a $2m seed round. The initial focus is on the Pacific region, a major impediment are the compliance and regulatory costs – in meeting both the in-country and original jurisdiction obligations.

One use case is giving refugee access to bank accounts – when asked about KYC obligations, the founders responded that they can code KYC into the Blockchain without the need for “formal” KYC.

Bring Me Home

This startup makes surplus food accessible and affordable to everyone – utilising fresh food that is unsold in shops, cafes and restaurants. According to the founders, globally, one third of all food is wasted – if this represented a country, it would rank 3rd after the US and China in terms of carbon emissions.

Structured around a commission-based app, users become advocates. The market segments are B2C (consumers and SMEs) and B2B (food production, manufacturing and wholesale distribution). Seeking a $1m seed round, the founders are also running a crowdfunding campaign.

There are specific versions of the app for vendors to help them manage their inventory and schedule their daily listings in advance. Peak demand is between 2pm and 6pm, and after 8pm – underlining the need for vendors to get their offers uploaded in a timely fashion.

The app is starting to see some significant retention – of the 12,000 users, 75% are in Victoria, with half in Melbourne. 15% are deemed returning customers, of which 45% represent repeat business. Currently, the service is in 126 venues across Melbourne.

The judges asked how the business can ensure they are dealing with true surplus supply, and not just creating artificial demand. In response, the founders stressed that vendors need to map to their usual “full display”, rather then offering “made on demand” products.

The People’s Choice award went to Bring Me Home, while the Judges made Sempo the overall winner.

Next week: Musical Memories – Of Time and Place

The Finnies

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The third annual FinTech Australia awards were celebrated in Melbourne last week, following the organisation’s relocation from Sydney during the past 12 months. Any concerns the organisers and sponsors may have harboured (given the switch in geography) were easily allayed, as the event was sold out, with over 300 guests in attendance.

The overall winners were definitely B2C brands – challenger banks, consumer lenders, payment providers – with Airwallex, Afterpay (which despite some recent negative press was named the FinTech of the year for the third time) and Up Bank taking out more than a third of the awards between them.

Despite the 30 per cent increase in the number of entries (over 230 in all), it did feel like the Fintech community is still something of a village, as several award presenters were themselves presented with awards. Maybe something for the organisers to think about for next time, as it’s not always a good look when winners end up presenting to each other.

On the other hand, the organisers are to be commended for the running order – unlike some industry events, the awards were all presented in a single session, and not dragged out from soup to nuts. It was also a great decision to use the Victorian Innovation Hub as the venue, as well as have grazing-style catering instead of a sit-down dinner. And the choice of live band was excellent, as past, current and future bankers cut a rug.

Next week: Brexit Blues

 

Notes from New York Blockchain Week

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Courtesy of Techemy and Brave New Coin, I was fortunate to attend this month’s New York Blockchain Week. Here are some high-level observations from my personal notes (all views are my own):

First, depending on who you asked, attendance numbers for the headline event, Consensus (organised by Coindesk), were well down on last year. Certainly, compared to last year’s human zoo (based on feedback from people who were there), there was more breathing room in the conference venue, and less frantic activity in the crush to get to and from plenary sessions.

Second, the last time I attended a Consensus event, Consensus Invest in December 2017, Bitcoin hit a then record peak of US$10,000. And while we did not see new all-time highs this month, Bitcoin again obliged with a substantial rally – such that many delegates felt that the crypto winter had thawed. Certainly, it helped to buoy the mood of the whole week, and the organisers of the Magical Crypto Conference were confident enough to bring a live bull to their event. (And where my colleague, Josh Olszewicz moderated an excellent panel on Exchanges.)

Third, there were more corporate exhibitors at Consensus – a sign that the Blockchain and Digital Asset sector continues to mature. Some of the enterprise solutions on offer are still early stage (for example, one institutional custody provider I spoke to are only servicing their clients’ Bitcoin holdings), and we are yet to see some high-profile projects get beyond proof of concept stage. Meanwhile an important component in Smart Contract management, ChainLink, is about to launch on their main net, and there was a lot of discussion around scaling (such as the Lightning Network) and interoperability (such as Submarine Swaps).

Fourth, another recurring theme was Custody solutions. Pension funds and other institutional asset managers are demanding robust, industrial strength infrastructure before they will allocate any of their funds under management to the new crypto asset class, as they will not entrust assets to be stored on exchanges or in vulnerable wallets. Moreover, institutional players require segregated client accounts, full transaction records and holding reports, independent and fair-value pricing data for NAV calculations, in addition to clearing, settlement and custody services.

Fifth, and linked to the above, there were a number of projects talking about dark liquidity pools. Not for any nefarious reasons (and not to be confused with the dark net), but to replicate what happens in other asset classes. Parties may wish to trade with trusted counterparts, but they don’t necessarily want to know each other’s specific identity. When it comes to placing a particular buy or sell order they might not want to reveal a position.

Finally, while there were some frivolous and lunatic fringe elements to the week, in general it felt more “grown up”. There were fewer ICO’s being shilled, and a number of projects that I spoke to (exchanges, protocols, tokens) are going through a period of transition and restructure – across their management, organisation, finances, legal entity or business model. Another sign of growing up in public.

Next week: Postscript on the Federal Election