Fintech Chatter: Conversations with Fintech Leaders

What a crazy week! Dexter Cousins is joined in person by Carolyn Breeze as co-host of Fintech News. They cover the latest Aus Fintech news from capital raises, acquisitions, legislation and layoffs.

Scott Heyes dials in from the US to give a first-hand account of the SVB collapse and what happens next.

And Carolyn shares her advice to founders looking to raise capital in the current climate.

Tune in to this jam-packed show as we cover:

- SVB - What happened, why and what it means for Aus Fintechs
- Cuscal Acquires Basiq
- Till raises $70m in Series D round
- Xero lays off 800 staff
- Datamesh raise $30m
- RBA announces CBDC pilot scheme
- Revolut turns a profit

To find out more about Scalare Partners - https://www.scalarepartners.com/

You can follow Carolyn Breeze - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynbreeze/

To find out more about Mendoza Ventures -  https://mendoza-ventures.com/

You can follow Scott Heyes - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottheyes/

This months Fintech Startup to watch is https://www.planpay.com/

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In Ep 137 of Fintech Chatter Dexter Cousins chats to David M. Brear, CEO of 11:FS.

A celebration of sorts as both 11:FS and Tier One People celebrate their 7th anniversaries.

Tune in as Dexter and David discuss their contrasting experiences over the last 7 years as founder/builders in Fintech. They share their lessons in business, hiring, leadership, life, startups, parenthood and everything else in between.

About 11:FS

11:FS is a challenger consultancy that builds and launches next generation digital propositions for some of the biggest banks in the world.

The team is driven by the belief that digital banking is 1% done and that digital reform is needed to improve systems and services for banks and their customers.

 11:FS build new digital banks and banking products, and deliver benchmarking, research, and consultancy for banks, insurers, governments, regulators and startups around the world.

They are also behind multiple podcasts including Fintech Insider, a bi-weekly show about all things fintech and financial services, which is downloaded in over 100 countries every week and is one of the top business podcasts on Apple podcasts; Blockchain Insider, a dedicated podcast specialising in all things blockchain, ledger technology and cryptocurrencies and Insurtech Insider, covering the latest news, insights and trends in the Insurtech industry.

About David M. Brear

David is the CEO of 11:FS and since his dream of being a sportsperson was crushed (along with the ligaments in his knee!) and he had to get a proper job, he has worked in pretty much every angle of the financial services industry never losing that competitive desire to drive forwards and win. 

Having pitched, established and run billion-pound transformations for some of the biggest FS companies on the planet the realisation that Digital Financials Services Is Only 1% Finished has spurred his desire to establish an organisation that can actually support the industry through its greatest challenge. 

11:FS is a challenger to the incumbent consultancies. We create innovative strategies and build out new propositions and ventures in the UK, US, Europe and Asia for some of the biggest brands on the planet. Alongside this 11:FS build in-house products from competitor benchmarking tools like 11:FS Pulse, to core banking and modern architecture systems like 11:FS Foundry. 

In 4 years 11:FS went from zero brand and zero revenues to a multimillion a month business with one of the hottest brands in fintech all with zero external investment in the group.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbrear/

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In Ep 136 of Fintech Chattter Podcast, Dexter Cousins is joined by Jeff Parker SVP and Managing Director, International at Marqeta.

Tune in as Dexter and Jeff discuss:

03:38 Pipes and Plumbing of Fintech

05:42 Serving a Global customer base

09:29 Embedded Finance - Hype or BIG opportunity?

19:44 The Marqeta Culture

23:01 Making the switch from Big Bank to Fintech

28:56 Why most people fail in startups

33:45 Where the next big shift in Fintech innovation will come from

39:56 Jeff's Podcast recommendations

About Jeff 

Jeff is responsible for building Marqeta’s go-to-market and operational functions internationally and advancing the company’s service offerings in its key markets across Europe and APAC.

In his 20 years of experience in the financial services space, Jeff has worked across four continents, in senior roles at Macquarie Bank and international payments businesses, OFX, and then WorldFirst, a company he led as CEO.

About Marqeta

Marqeta is headquartered in Oakland, California and is certified to operate in 39 countries globally. 

Marqeta’s modern card issuing platform empowers its customers to create customized and innovative payment cards. 

Its modern architecture gives its customers the ability to build more configurable and flexible payment experiences, accelerating time-to-market and democratizing access to card-issuing technology. 

Marqeta's open APIs provide instant access to highly scalable, cloud-based payment infrastructure that enables customers to launch and manage their own card programs, issue cards and authorize and settle payment transactions. 

For more information visit Marqeta

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Co-host Chloe White joins Dexter Cousins to cover the Blockchain news headlines and interesting events  in February 2023.

Every month Chloe calls in from an international city embracing digital assets and Web3.

This month Chloe calls in from Dubai to share some exciting developments and give an "on the ground" report of the GCC digital asset scene.

They also discuss the latest Token Mapping Exercise, NAB Stablecoin and Carbon trading, Russia's Digital Ruble potentially spelling the end of SWIFT payments, South East Asia being the new epicentre of crypto - plus Bitcoin and Ordinals.

Find out more about Genesis Block - https://genesisblock.com.au/

You can follow Chloe on Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/policyeconomist/

or Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChloeWhiteAus

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In episode 5 of Blockchain Chatter Dexter Cousins chats to Guy Dickinson, CEO and Co-founder of BetaCarbon.

BetaCarbon launched in 2021 and winner of the Finnies People's Choice Award in 2022. Guy shares his journey of heading up Carbon Markets for HSBC to launching his own startup, democratising carbon trading tokens on the Ethereum network.


About BetaCarbon

Betacarbon enables retail investors to get exposure to Australian Carbon. For the first time, you can take part in the Australian carbon market with as little as $1.Carbon credits are created through projects that capture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, such as planting trees. These credits can then be bought and sold in the carbon markets, with the goal of reducing overall carbon emissions.

As the world moves towards a low-carbon future, carbon credits will likely continue to play a role in helping businesses and individuals offset their carbon emissions and transition to cleaner energy sources.

About Clima
In just three simple steps, Clima makes it easy to show customers your commitment to climate change, while improving brand loyalty.
https://www.clima.com.au/

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In episode 135 of Fintech Chatter Podcast Dexter  Cousins is joined by Andrew Black, Managing Director of ConnectID.

ConnectID aims to become Australia’s first and leading reusable digital identity exchange, allowing citizens to take more control over their identity and data, and enabling organisations to unlock value and reduce security risks. 

Part of Australian Payments Plus (which also includes eftpos, BPAY, Beem and the New Payments Platform) ConnectID provides businesses access to trusted and reliable identity data, and is partnering with the big 4 banks to launch this Digital Identity ecosystem for Australians.

Andrew is an established leader in the Digital Identity industry, working with state and federal government here in Australia. He also works with international bodies to shape future technology evolutions and policies to protect citizen data and rights. 

Originally hailing from Scotland, Andrew spent the past decade leading digital ventures on data and cyber security in 2 major UK banks, having most recently led Open Banking and Digital Identity.

Connect with Andrew https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-black-a5118239/

Find out more - https://connectid.com.au

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Fintech Chatter News is back for 2023!

In this new format Dexter chats with a friend of the show about the BIG Aussie Fintech news of the month.

This months guest is Alan Tsen - https://twitter.com/alantsen

As an OG of Aussie Fintech Alan was GM of Stone and Chalk and Chair of Fintech Australia.

More recently Alan held the Director of Revenue Strategy role for African Fintech Chipper cash.

And Alan has now gone back to his roots by heading up IAGs Firemark accellerator program, FMX - https://www.firemarkaccelerate.com/

Alan is also the author of the excellent Fintech Radar newsletter - https://fintechradar.substack.com/

In this edition of Fintech Chatter News Dexter and Alan cover:

- Hnry $35m Series B
- Tyro turns 20
- Openpay goes into receivership
- FMX accelerator programme
- Career tips on creating a personal brand in Fintech

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In episode 133 of Fintech Chatter, Dexter Cousins is joined by Daniel Cannizzaro, CEO and Founder of Parpera.

Parpera was Founded in April 2020, raising AUD2.7m in equity funding through Equitise.

In October 2021, they launched the Parpera App, which grew to serve hundreds of Australian businesses.

Then disaster struck on 29 June 2022, Parpera had to temporarily pause the set up of new accounts, due to the closure of partner bank, Volt (read more).

Dexter chats to Daniel about the relaunch of Parpera, finding new BaaS partners and facing the challenge of preserving capital. This is a timely story of a founder who truly believes in their mission and is willing to push through what feels like insurmountable challenges to keep their dream alive.


About Parpera
We make it easier for people to manage their business finances so that they can focus more on what matters most to them.

Parpera provides everything you need to run your business finances in one app, including access to a Business account, Business Debit Mastercard®, invoicing, cash flow insights, and tax and accounting capabilities, specifically designed for Sole Traders (companies coming soon!)

Focus more on what matters. Download Parpera now. It’s free to get started!

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In episode 4 of Blockchain Chatter Dexter Cousins chats with Shane Verner from Fireblocks.

Shane shares the amazing story of Fireblocks, a tech startup that got to $100m ARR in record time (only Slack has accomplished this feat faster than Fireblocks!)

Dexter asks Shane why an Israeli-based Blockchain business sees Australia as such an important market.

And they talk about some of the groundbreaking work Fireblocks is doing in the Australian market.

Shane has spent many years in the banking technology sector working for companies like Thought Machine, IBM and Cisco. He shares his insights on how blockchain and digital assets are the future of the banking industry.

About Fireblocks

Fireblocks is an enterprise-grade platform delivering a secure infrastructure for moving, storing, and issuing digital assets. 

Fireblocks enables exchanges, lending desks, custodians, banks, trading desks, and hedge funds to securely scale digital asset operations through the Fireblocks Network and MPC-based Wallet Infrastructure. 

Fireblocks serves over 1,600 financial institutions, has secured the transfer of over $3 trillion in digital assets, and has a unique insurance policy that covers assets in storage & transit. 

Some of the biggest trading desks have switched to Fireblocks because it’s the only solution that CISOs and Ops Teams both love. 

For more information, please visit www.fireblocks.com.

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In episode 132 of Fintech Chatter Dexter Cousins is joined by Damir Cuca, Founder and CEO of Basiq.

Basiq provides businesses with all the tools to seamlessly acquire and use Open Banking data in a CDR-compliant way.

Make sure to check out the full podcast where Damir shares his approach to bringing on major investors including Plaid, NAB Ventures, Salesforce and Visa.

And if you are new to the show make sure to follow us and leave a review, it really helps others discover the show and support great founders like Damir 🙏 😀

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