{"id":44117,"date":"2023-10-20T15:33:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/london-calling-dear-malcolm-turnbull-act-now-or-see-best-fintech-talent-lured-away-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:33:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:33:35","slug":"london-calling-dear-malcolm-turnbull-act-now-or-see-best-fintech-talent-lured-away-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/london-calling-dear-malcolm-turnbull-act-now-or-see-best-fintech-talent-lured-away-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"London calling: Dear Malcolm Turnbull, act now or see best fintech talent lured away – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Startup founders that participated in the recent fintech week in the UK have a blunt message for the Australian government: act now or lose even more talent overseas.<\/p>\n
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Ten Australian startups were flown to London by UK Trade and Investment at the start of October for the London Fintech Week, with many viewing it as an open attempt at poaching these companies from Australian shores.<\/p>\n
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Now one of the ten startups has made the first move, with peer-to-peer real estate lending platform Lend2Fund to soon relocate to London, as the Australian Financial Review<\/i> reports.<\/p>\n
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It was a combination of more transparent regulations and readily available seed funding that convinced co-founder Paul Missio to make the leap.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAustralia can\u2019t match the powerhouse of London for a fintech company that has global ambitions. The UK nurtures fintech for global scale but we aren\u2019t seeing a cohesive \u2018global\u2019 vision in Australia,\u201d Missio told the AFR<\/i>.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI dare say others will be tempted to make the move to friendly waters.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The lure of London<\/b><\/p>\n
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A number of other startups that participated in the trip say the Australian government needs to act now on regulatory concerns and other fintech issues in order to keep these potentially huge companies on Australian shores.<\/p>\n
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Simply Wall St, a Sydney-based startup that creates infographics to simplify stocks information<\/a>, also made the trip to London, and co-founder Nick van den Berg says it\u2019s inevitable that Aussie fintech companies will look overseas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cYou will go where you think you have the highest chance of succeeding,\u201d van den Berg tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIf the government is serious about keeping entrepreneurs here they need to do everything possible, and look around the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cAs much as I love Australia, your patriotic feelings only go so far.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The trip to London was \u201cfascinating\u201d, and he says there was little doubt about what the ultimate intention of it was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cA government isn\u2019t going to fly all these startups over if there isn\u2019t an aim there,\u201d van den Berg says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cUndoubtedly the aim was to highlight the benefits of operating in the UK, whether for a complete relocation or setting up an office presence. They were very good at highlighting the benefits of what\u2019s over there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLend2Fund are doing what they think they can to maximise success, and that\u2019s what people should do. That\u2019s why we went on the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An impressive ecosystem<\/b><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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