Australian fintech Finder valued at A$680m in fundraising debut

[NEW YORK] Australian fintech firm Finder, which helps clients invest and save money, completed its first fund raising at a valuation of A$680 million (S$661.2 million), tapping growing investor demand for tech investments in the region.

Sydney-based technology investor Future Now Capital is injecting an initial A$30 million into the company, and Finder is set to bring in other new investors in the next 3 months, Finder co-founder Fred Schebesta said in an interview Wednesday (Dec 8).

The investment is the latest in a series of deals involving Australian fintech businesses which have attracted strong interest from investors globally after the pandemic accelerated a shift to digital.

Square, the digital-payments platform led by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, agreed to acquire Australian buy now, pay later company Afterpay for US$29 billion in August in the country's biggest-ever buyout.

In the private markets, Airwallex Cayman raised 2 rounds of funding in the space of 6 months, boosting its valuation to US$4 billion, while insurance startup Cover Genius lifted its valuation to A$1 billion after raising A$100 million from investors including G Squared.

"The fintech market in general has found a really good receptive audience in Australia," Louise Daley, a partner at Future Now Capital, said in a separate interview. "Australians are very early adopters to products and platforms, and that's played a part in businesses seeing what's possible in the Australian market and setting them up for expansion elsewhere."

DIGITAL WALLET

Finder's Schebesta said the company, which runs a consumer comparison website and offers cryptocurrency trading, is focused particularly on growing its digital wallet into a platform and expanding its crypto business into the US and the UK.

"Future Now has a lot of expertise in technology and relationships in the US and South-east Asia as well and they are a lot about helping the founders, which is key for us," he said.

Highbury Partnership and Herbert Smith Freehills advised Finder on the transaction.

Based in Sydney, Finder allows its 10 million unique monthly global visitors to compare prices on everything from designer fashion and appliances to phone bills, credit cards and home loans.

The company has 500 employees across 8 countries and plans to hire 250 more in the next 12 months. Schebesta founded the business with his high school friend Frank Restuccia in 2006.

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