Leona Murphy

Asia’s largest fintech innovation hub, Stone & Chalk, has announced the appointment of a new chairman and suite of new board members, as it prepares for its next phase of growth, transitioning out of “start-up” mode to “scale-up” mode itself.

After the conclusion of Stone & Chalk’s AGM in November, Leona Murphy, who had already served for three years on the board, will move up and replace Craig Dunn as Chairman, whose three-year term was set to expire.

Speaking on Craig’s departure, Stone & Chalk CEO, Alex Scandurra, said; “I will forever be grateful to have served as CEO alongside someone with the wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for supporting Australian fintech as Craig Dunn has had these past three years.

“He has been incredibly generous with his time during his tenure, and remains dedicated to our higher purpose of building Asia’s leading fintech ecosystem. I look forward to a continued personal and professional relationship, with Craig remaining within the family as a Stone & Chalk Global Ambassador,” said Mr. Scandurra.

Leona will bring a vast range of relevant experience as she steps up to the new role, including 20 years in financial services, 10 years in C-Suite roles in Top 20 ASX-listed organisations, and multiple board positions across public, private and member based organisations.

“Leona was a natural choice to step into Craig’s very big shoes, given her demonstrated leadership and business success across a variety of relevant industries and business types,” continued Mr. Scandurra.

“She has more than proven her commitment to fostering and accelerating the development of our world-leading portfolio of fintechs during her tenure on our board over the last three years. She’s been instrumental in supporting the development of Stone & Chalk’s strategy, and continually exemplifies our core values of honesty, transparency, and integrity.

“Leona will be integral in helping to shape and guide our approach as we move into our next ‘ramp up’ phase, cementing our position not just as the natural centre of gravity for fintech in Australia, but as a destination for leading fintechs from across the globe,” said Mr. Scandurra.

Speaking of her appointment, Ms Murphy said, “I’m delighted to have been given such an exciting opportunity, and am deeply impressed by the exceptional quality of our new Board. It will be my pleasure to help guide Stone & Chalk’s transition into its next phase of growth alongside such a passionate Board and management team.”

New Board appointments include:

• Anthony Eisen (Executive Chair and co-founder of Afterpay; Melbourne-based)
• Aris Allegos (CEO of Co-Founder of Moula; HO in Melbourne, S&C resident in Sydney)
• Debra Taylor (COO of OpenSparkz; S&C resident in Sydney)
• Carol Trotman (COO of WordFlow; S&C resident in Sydney)
• Ron Arnold (Managing General Partner at IAG Firemark Ventures & Firemark Singapore, S&C corporate partner)
• Kylie Rixon (CRO of ANZ Digital and Wealth; S&C corporate partner)
• Richard Kimber (CEO and co-founder of Daisee)

The new recruits will also join Ian Pollari, who remains on as a director after joining at Stone & Chalk’s inception, and who is Global Co-Lead of KPMG’s Fintech practice and Head of KPMG’s Banking Sector in Australia.

All potential candidates were screened against the Stone & Chalk Board Skills Matrix, to ensure the final selection possessed a suitable mix of relevant skills, experience, diversity, and knowledge to guide and provide effective oversight of the company.

Of the final Board composition, six of its nine directors have successfully founded start-ups, five currently hold senior positions with leading fintech businesses in Australia, and three have senior leadership positions with corporate partners of Stone & Chalk. Nearly half are women, and all have extensive financial services experience.

“It’s well-known that boards with greater diversity across factors, such as industry background and experience, achieve higher revenue growth, profitability and shareholder returns than those without,” continued Mr Scandurra.

“As we head into our next phase of rapid expansion, we are confident that the team we have selected possesses the perfect balance of experience, skills, and perspectives to take us to the next level and beyond,” he concluded.

Pursuant to the Constitution of Stone & Chalk, all new directors will stand for election at the coming AGM in November 2018. For more information: www.stoneandchalk.com.au

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A new east-coast “mega-hub” will give start-ups new opportunities.

Asia’s largest fintech innovation hub, Stone & Chalk, is uniting fintech across the eastern seaboard with the launch of a new national capability across its new home at the Goods Shed North in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD innovation precinct, and its residency in the Sydney Startup Hub.

With Melbourne and Sydney combined representing over 80 per cent of all fintech activity across Australia, the new east-coast “mega-hub” will give start-ups, scale-ups, corporates, and investors nationwide opportunities for collaboration and resource-sharing.

Given this Melbourne/Sydney fintech concentration, and with Stone & Chalk already the largest hub in the region, the new mega-hub is set to become a national asset that could cement Australia’s eastern seaboard as a natural centre of gravity for fintech in Australia and across the ASEAN region.

Its launch coincides with the opening of the Victorian Government’s startup agency, LaunchVic, also in the Goods Shed North, where Stone & Chalk Melbourne will now be housed alongside CSIRO’s Data61, That Startup Show, Startmate, Stone & Chalk partner SproutX, and The Medtech Actuator.

Alan Tsen, general manager of Stone & Chalk Melbourne said: “What many people don’t realise is that fintech intersects with a large number of other industries. Being able to collaborate under one roof with of a variety of industry verticals is a huge advantage of being positioned within the highly diverse Victorian Innovation Hub.

“We’ve already partnered with other key parts of the Victorian ecosystem to bring this cross-pollination to life, and so are excited to bring our residents even more possibilities for collaboration across other verticals through our residency in the Hub. We believe that bringing all of these possibilities together into a national program will assist the continuing growth of the Australian fintech ecosystem as a whole,” concluded Alan Tsen.

The launch of the mega-hub follows the recent signing of the “UK-Australia FinTech Bridge” between Australia and the UK, which noted that “Australia is a strong global player in fintech with Melbourne and Sydney both ranked in the top ten global financial centres”.

Stone & Chalk CEO, Alex Scandurra, also ran the Barclays accelerator program in London before joining Stone & Chalk, and was inspired by the effects of fintech on the broader UK economy when envisaging the potential benefits of a mega-hub. He wanted to build density for the sector on local shores in the hopes of also creating flow-on effects for adjacent industries.

Alex Scandurra said: “If Australia is to realise the goals of the National Innovation & Science Agenda and become the ‘innovation nation’ we speak about wanting to be, it will require a strong mentality shift away from a competitive mind set amongst start-ups, towards one of collaboration and mutual success.

“This collaboration should also be extended between industry and start-ups. As an example, our Accelerated Commercialisation programs bring together corporate partners with start-ups and scale-ups to solve real commercial opportunities within a structured framework. Only by taking a collaborative approach across the board will we come close to achieving our innovation dreams.”

The work of Stone & Chalk start-ups and scale-ups spans the realm of possibilities within financial services, ranging from open banking and cybersecurity, to blockchain commercialisation, the internet of things, connected devices, insurtech and even agricultural finance.

Many are already exporting and getting involved in other forms of international collaboration, such as Gobbil andBreezedocs who recently expanded into global markets including the UK, and Trade Ledger who recently launched its UK arm and joined a London fintech delegation designed to build deeper Australia-UK links.

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