The University of Sydney Business School, which has been closely associated with some of the nation’s most successful financial sector startups, including AfterPay, Lendi and Prospa, has launched a fintech specific competition under its highly respected Genesis umbrella.
The 11 year old Genesis program, which supports startups through mentoring, assistance with media exposure and prize money of up to $25,000, will hold its first final for fintech competitors as part of Sydney’s Spark Festival for startups, investors and entrepreneurs.
The Spark Festival is 17-day program of 130 startup related events. The Genesis Fintech final with a first prize of $25,000, will be held on Friday 25th October.
The Head of the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor Leanne Cutcher, described the Spark Festival as a “perfect opportunity to bring entrepreneurs, investors, inventors, innovators, students and executives together for mutual benefit”.
“This, our first fintech specific competition, is very much in keeping with the Business School’s focus on the technological transformation of the finance sector,” Professor Cutcher said.
The seven Genesis fintech finalists include:
- Adatree – technology which helps companies in the finance sector to comply with regulations governing the management of consumer data.
- BarBooks – a simple, intuitive system which provides management, bookkeeping and reporting technology specifically for the legal profession.
- Longevity – technology which takes a small amount after each purchase from the users bank account and adds it to their existing super account.
- Advisr – provides information on insurance and insurance products and links users with experts and brokers.
- Zuper – a super fund which provides users with a greater degree of control over their investments.
- Kaddy – technology platform which seamlessly manages orders, invoices and payments for industry.
- Finspire – This is a contemporary financial coaching tool that seeks to personalise the user experience in order to motivate them to change financial behaviours and achieve better outcomes.
“This Genesis competition will shine the light on these highly innovative enterprises and add significantly to Sydney’s reputation as one of the leading global ecosystems for fintech,” said Professor Cutcher.
“The Business School has been associated with the founders of some of the most successful fintechs in Australia including Afterpay, Lendi and Prospa all now valued above $100 million,” she added. “We are proud to now be supporting the next generation of successful fintechs through the Genesis program.”