{"id":36611,"date":"2023-10-20T14:45:11","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/less-of-a-pissing-contest-victorians-want-centre-of-fintech-excellence-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:45:11","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:45:11","slug":"less-of-a-pissing-contest-victorians-want-centre-of-fintech-excellence-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/less-of-a-pissing-contest-victorians-want-centre-of-fintech-excellence-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLess of a pissing contest\u201d: Victorians want centre of fintech excellence – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Melbourne desperately needs a centralised fintech hub, not \u201ca pissing contest\u201d with Sydney, in order to become a leading global startup city in the sector, according to the results of a new survey.<\/p>\n

MoneyPlace commissioned the Melbourne Fintech Survey, which asked 52 Melbourne fintech startups encompassing more than 500 entrepreneurs what the biggest challenges are involved with running their business.<\/p>\n

It found that Melbourne has a \u201cthriving\u201d fintech scene but the community is \u201clagging behind\u201d others because of the lack of a co-ordinated space.<\/p>\n

An underlying theme among the respondents was the desire for a hub similar to Sydney\u2019s Stone & Chalk, as well as more assistance from government and corporates.<\/p>\n

The survey found the majority of startups operating in the fintech sector in Victoria are less than two years old, have fewer than ten employees, are post-launch and based in the Melbourne CBD.<\/p>\n

MoneyPlace founder and CEO Stuart Stoyan says the purpose of the survey was to provide some clear statistics on the community and a call to action for governments and corporates.<\/p>\n

The census consensus<\/h3>\n

\u201cThe need for a dedicated space to anchor the community was a consistent theme,\u201d Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a fintech startup it\u2019d be so much easier to work and participate in a community that is anchored around a dedicated hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

The specialised needs of fintech companies mean it\u2019s necessarily to have spaces and bodies focused solely on the industry, Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

Australia vs the world, not Melbourne vs Sydney<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s crucial that the major Australian cities are working together in this space rather than competing for space and resources, the survey found.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake this less of a pissing contest between states \u2013 Australia is rapidly falling behind places like the US, UK and Singapore,\u201d a respondent says.<\/p>\n

Stoyan stresses that the will to create a hub in Melbourne isn\u2019t an effort to try to one-up Sydney.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about setting one up to compete with Stone & Chalk and Tyro,\u201d Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about getting the hub in Melbourne and other cities to work with Stone & Chalk so we can then have a very considerate, co-ordinate focus around fintech in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe national fintech agenda is much more important as opposed to a Melbourne versus Sydney rivalry. It\u2019s hard enough to keep our own talent on our own soil let along worrying about inner city rivalries.\u201d<\/p>\n

The need for more government and corporate support<\/h3>\n

The survey also found a desire for more help from, and interaction with, all levels of government and corporate entities in the state.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem that fintech startups face is attracting customers, the survey finds, and this could be improved by gaining greater accessibility to members of government and large businesses.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the matter of making startups more appealing for large corporate organisations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need organisations to change their attitudes towards startups,\u201d a respondent says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are conservative and would rather pay ten times more for a product or service if it comes from a big brand or top tier consulting house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stoyan says it\u2019s about getting more support and promotion for the community to lend it the credibility it needs to attract customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an absolute desire for more government and corporate support to help fintech startups, and for the government to help fintech by promoting their services overseas,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorporations aren\u2019t necessarily set up that well to partner with fintechs, and it\u2019s hard to run a procurement program with a large bank if you\u2019ve only existed for six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regulatory issues are a primary concern for fintechs, but respondents were conflicted in this area, with about half feeling regulation levels are \u201cjust right\u201d while 40% think there is too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a 20-year-old set of regulations written before the internet that we need to comply with,\u201d Stoyan says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a push to streamline and simplify the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

While this is a federal issue, Stoyan says it\u2019s important for all levels of government to become involved with the fintech space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Melbourne is really interested in the sector, but not quite sure how to engage through it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a state level they can fit it in as a priority by providing some of the $60 million in funding towards fintech.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much that it goes to individual startups, but more to the community so you can get that multiplier effect and they can then pay it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want to grow your business <\/i>with Instagram?<\/i><\/a> <\/i>StartupSmart School can help.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne desperately needs a centralised fintech hub, not \u201ca pissing contest\u201d with Sydney, in order to become a leading global<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36611"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}