SendGold is an alternative to bank money as it allows its customers to save, invest, gift and pay using gold. The SendGold technology platform is highly scalable and its business model addresses some of the largest markets in the world, including not only gold, but payments, gaming and rewards, targeting Asia’s fast-growing and increasingly wealthy middle class.

SendGold CEO and co-founder Jodi Stanton said, “We believe the world’s current money systems are based on technologies and institutions that are outdated, expensive and slow. It can still take days to send funds to another country even with a global internet and 6 billion mobile phones in people’s hands. Bank currencies tend to lose their buying power, especially in Asia, the company’s target market. Money is one of the last major domains awaiting an internet upgrade.”

Ms Stanton stated “SendGold is peer-to-peer, instant, and global like Bitcoin, but is based on a real asset that is simpler to understand, simpler to secure, and less volatile. SendGold delivers these benefits in a way that complies with global banking regulations.”

SendGold is currently live in various forms in India, Australia, India, New Zealand, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines.

SendGold continues the tradition of new entrants aiming to disrupt mobile payments and investment accessibility. Mobile payments are growing 33% year on year and simple investment apps like Robinhood and Acorns/Raiz are both stealing market share and creating new market segments. Robinhood, founded in 2013, was recently valued at US $5.6 billion.

SendGold plans to spend the funds it will raise via equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket to grow their team, further develop the platform, and substantially drive customer and business acquisition.

Ben Bucknell CEO of OnMarket commented “SendGold has previously raised $2.3mil from high net worth investors. We are delighted to offer retail investors the opportunity to invest in this innovative fintech company for the first time. SendGold has embraced the new equity crowdfunding laws by using the OnMarket platform to enable all investors the chance to own equity in SendGold.”

Key points:

• Equity crowdfunding offer to raise up to $2 million, closes Friday Sept 14
• Operating in the highest trending sectors in the world – mobile payments, peer-to-peer transactions, online gifting, social gaming and digital rewards
• Based upon a real asset, customers are the outright individual owners of 99.95% pure physical gold bullion
• Built to an institutional standard, AML and KYC compliant and fully regulated under Australian law
• Currently live in 9 countries in Asia Pacific, home to 43% of the world’s population, including India and China
• Major B2B deals signed in Rewards and Gaming
• Early traction and brand recognition via 7,000 app downloads, 180,000 Facebook followers, over 20% monthly customer and transaction growth
• Previously raised over $2 million from sophisticated investors, first time SendGold has been offered for investment to retail investors

The new crowd-sourced funding legislation allows unlisted public companies the opportunity to raise up to $5 million per year from the crowd. OnMarket has become the leading equity crowdfunding platform in Australia, successfully completing several equity crowdfunding deals in the short time since receiving an equity crowdfunding intermediary licence from ASIC.

The SendGold equity crowdfunding offer is live via the OnMarket platform till September 14. SendGold is targeting a minimum raise size of $500,000, and a maximum of $2 million. The minimum bid size into the offer is $250.

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Ben Bucknell

OnMarket has been awarded the 2018 FinTech Australia award for ‘Excellence in Crowdfunding’ at last week’s Finnies Awards held in Sydney.

The Finnies are Australia’s only industry-backed awards, which are supported by FinTech Australia and the NSW Government’s Jobs for NSW. The Finnies recognise and celebrate the best and brightest in the rapidly growing and exciting fintech industry. The award was presented to OnMarket by Stone & Chalk CEO Alex Scandurra, after each entry was assessed by a panel of 81 domestic and international judges.

OnMarket CEO Ben Bucknell said that his company’s ‘Excellence in Crowdfunding’ Award was great recognition of the hard work the OnMarket team had put into the equity crowdfunding space over the past year, “It is fantastic to be recognised amongst the crowdfunding and fintech communities. We look forward to continuing to innovative our capital raising platform, and bringing our 48,000 investors access to the most innovative and growing Australian companies seeking capital.”

OnMarket has become the leading equity crowdfunding platform in Australia, successfully completing two equity crowdfunding deals in the short time since receiving their equity crowdfunding intermediary licence from ASIC in January 2018. The new crowd-sourced funding legislation allows unlisted public companies the opportunity to raise up to $5mil per year from the crowd. The Finnies award for ‘Excellence in Crowdfunding’ follows on from OnMarket winning ‘Crowdfunding Innovator of the Year’ at the FinTech Business Awards earlier in 2018.

CEO Ben Bucknell stated “In our most recent equity crowdfunding deal we helped bring together the largest ever crowd to participate in an equity crowdfunding raise. This shows what we at OnMarket believe to be the true essence of equity crowdfunding, that is, to bring together the community to invest in companies making a difference. The capital raising provided solar energy focused retailer DC Power Co. with 15,000 people to be a ready-made engaged customer base.” DC Power Co. raised $2.25 mil through OnMarket in a deal led by co-founder and Managing Director Rosemary Kennedy.

Equity crowdfunding brings entrepreneurs and investors together for the first time, and that is what OnMarket was able to achieve with Revvies, which was the first equity crowdfunding deal to close in Australia. Revvies successfully raised close to $300,000 from over 250 investors via the OnMarket platform. Revvies has developed an innovative, fast dissolving mouth strip that delivers 40 mg of caffeine.

“OnMarket will continue to make investing in IPOs and equity crowdfunding an efficient, simple, and transparent process that is accessible to everyday Australian investors and businesses seeking to make a change in the world. We are extremely proud to be the winners of the 2018 Finnies ‘Excellence in Crowdfunding’ award”, Mr Bucknell said.

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OnMarket CEO Ben Bucknell said “OnMarket has now helped over 70 companies list on the ASX. We are pleased to announce that we’ve recently entered into an agreement with Listcorp to help these companies better communicate with investors throughout Australia.

“The fundamental benefit that both Listcorp and OnMarket are providing to Australia’s retail investors is access. OnMarket provides retail investors direct access to IPO and equity crowdfunding opportunities, and Listcorp provides retail investors access to much needed information about the companies they have invested in, or are looking to invest in”.

OnMarket and Listcorp work very closely with listed and unlisted companies of all different sizes, helping them build awareness and promote their company to Australia’s investor community. OnMarket helps early stage, growth stage and IPO companies raise much needed capital from their 47,000 strong investor database. Listcorp enables listed companies to publish content, and disseminate their message instantly to 30,000+ investors via their website, as well as through their partners, including stockbrokers Evans & Partners and Baillieu Holst, and the Australian Shareholders Association.

John Daly CEO of Listcorp stated, “There is a strong alignment between what OnMarket and Listcorp are both trying to achieve. We are both businesses driven to improving the relationship between investors and listed companies through the use of technology”.

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Ben Bucknell

Equity crowdfunding platform OnMarket has successfully closed Australia’s first equity crowdfunding offer. Revvies Energy Strips Limited (Revvies) has become the first company in Australia to raise capital by utilising the government’s new equity crowdfunding legislation.

Equity crowdfunding is the new way for everyday investors, mums and dads, and the millennial generation to invest in early-stage and growth-stage businesses. Where traditionally, this capital raising space was dominated by wealthy individuals, venture capitalists and angel investors, now everyone is able to handpick a company, invest and gain a stake.

OnMarket founder Ben Bucknell said “Equity crowdfunding brings entrepreneurs and consumer investors together for the first time, and that is what we have been able to achieve with Revvies.

“This is the first equity crowdfunding deal to be completed in Australia. We anticipate that there will be significant interest in this space going forward, from both companies looking for capital and investors looking for access to innovative, growing companies, just like Revvies.”

Revvies was founded in 2012 and has developed an innovative, fast dissolving mouth strip that delivers 40 mg of caffeine. It provides athletes, students and busy people with the ability to have a faster, sugar-free, safe and consistent caffeine boost. Revvies supplies 6 national sports teams, 20 professional clubs, and Olympic athletes from Australia, New Zealand and the UK.

Revvies co-founder John Nolan-Neylan commented, “We were very excited to use equity crowdfunding through OnMarket to raise capital for our business. The beauty of accessing the crowd is that our new investors will now become our endorsers, our influencers and our advocates.

“We found that equity crowdfunding to be a great way to build brand awareness for Revvies, and an exciting new alternative to the more traditional ways small companies like us would normally raise capital.”

Key points:

• New legislation enabled by the Crowd-sourced Funding Act 2017, allows companies with less than $25mil in gross assets to raise up to $5mil a year
• Retail investors are able to invest up to $10,000 per company per year
• In January 2018, OnMarket was granted one of the first equity crowdfunding intermediary licenses in Australia by ASIC
• The Revvies equity crowdfunding offer opened on February 15, 2018 and closed on March 23, 2018
• Revvies has successfully raised nearly $300,000 via OnMarket through equity crowdfunding from 239 investors
• The minimum investment size into the Revvies offer was $250

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Equity crowdfunding brings entrepreneurs and retail investors together for the first time and is only now possible following today’s licence approval. Equity crowdfunding enables Australian retail investors to contribute as little as $50, or as much as $10,000 in a business. The new licenses follow federal legislation announced last year.

OnMarket will bring investment opportunities through Australian businesses to ordinary Australians through its online platform and app. Investors will be connected to Australian businesses like Revvies, which makes  innovative caffeine strips to support the nation’s athletes. OnMarket is also in discussions with a leading Medicinal Cannabis company to raise over $2 million via equity crowdfunding.

The businesses will make history as the first in Australia to raise capital through equity crowdfunding this year.

OnMarket founder and CEO Ben Bucknell said the approval marked a significant milestone for Australian businesses and retail investors alike.

“It’s time all Australians had a fair go and access to Australian businesses of the future. Previously, investing in businesses like Revvies would only be accessible to angel investors or venture capital firms but through equity crowdfunding investment democratisation is here to stay,” Mr Bucknell said.

“Equity crowdfunding is an innovative way to fund someone else’s dream,” he said.

Equity crowdfunding is already worth $US2.6 billion in the United States, and is proving popular in the United Kingdom and New Zealand as a way for entrepreneurs to succeed. Equity crowdfunding was only established in the UK in 2013 and last year had grown to £272m^[1] in the UK.

Australia has more than 1.2 million entrepreneurs employing two thirds of the country’s 12 million workers, and already contributes more than $343 billion to the economy annually, so the opportunity from equity crowdfunding is significant.

Unlike rewards based crowdfunding, which is essentially an advance payment for a product or a gift, equity crowdfunding allows investors to have an ongoing connection by owning part of the company.

It is estimated that 200,000 small and medium sized Australian businesses have difficulty growing because banks won’t lend them money.

According to Macquarie research, Australian entrepreneurs want to borrow up to $60 billion a year more than they currently are allowed, to grow their businesses, hire new staff and innovate^[2].

OnMarket has enabled investors to access more than 80 IPOs. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull launched the platform shortly after becoming Prime Minister in September 2015.

Mr Bucknell said “Young Aussies, in particular, want to make a difference and invest in businesses they believe in. In a recent survey, 79% of millennials described themselves as impact investors seeking both financial and social return^[3].
“Likewise, Australian entrepreneurs are some of the most inventive in the world, but banks won’t lend them the money to get their businesses off the ground. Equity crowdfunding solves that problem,” Mr Bucknell said.

Under the new Australian Government rules, unlisted companies with less than $25 million in assets and revenue will be able to source up to $5 million a year through equity crowdfunding.

Australians interested in equity crowdfunding, can find out more information from the OnMarket website: www.onmarket.com.au.

Case study: Revvies – The Australian Invention supporting Australian athletes

Revvies, the caffeine strips providing professional athletes with an instant energy boost, helps them beat fatigue. Revvies is looking at raising capital through equity crowdfunding to grow through increased global marketing, human resources and product development.

Approved by sporting regulators, Revvies to date have been produced in limited supplies, primarily for professional bodies.  With global energy drink sales worth $US50.5 billion, the Australian invention is a more effective and sugar-free alternative ripe for disrupting the global energy drink market.

Revvies is already being used, or is being trialled, by:

• AFL clubs Brisbane Lions, Adelaide Crows, and the Gold Coast Suns
• NRL clubs Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers
• Super Rugby Clubs the Canterbury Crusaders, Waikato Chiefs and NSW Waratahs and the All Black Rugby 7’s team
• Professional English soccer teams Leeds United, Middlesbrough and Hull City
• Members of the Australia Olympic team
• United States Olympic team
• Australian Institute of Sport
• High Performance Sport New Zealand
• Queensland Academy of Sport
• Cricket Victoria including Melbourne Stars
• A-League clubs Newcastle United Jets, Wellington Phoenix, Brisbane Roar and the New Zealand national football team the All Whites
• Super Netball League teams Sunshine Coast Lightning and Adelaide Thunderbirds

Revvies founder John Nolan-Neylan said he was proud to support Australia’s athletes and equity crowdfunding would help the business grow.

“Unlike energy drinks, these energy strips do not contain sugar and give an instant effect. When athletes begin to tire and fade, Revvies gives them a legal hit to help them keep going,” Mr Nolan-Neylan said.

“Equity crowdfunding gives us an opportunity to accelerate our growth and bring Australians who believe in our product with us along the way,” he concluded.

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IPOs returned an average of 25.4%, more than triple the 7.5% delivered by the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index. Floats raising less than $50 million delivered the best results, returning 32.2%, while those issuing more than $50 million returned 14.7%.

“While the conventional wisdom may say, ‘the larger the company, the safer the investment’, companies with offer sizes of less than $50 million were the clear winners last year, gaining an average of 32.2% by the year’s end. That is an encouraging statistic for IPO investing,” said Ben Bucknell, Chief Executive of OnMarket BookBuilds (OMB).

IT floats were the best performers, with an average gain of 70% by year end. Other strongly performing sectors were consumer staples (up 37%) and healthcare (up 24.2%).

Some surprising non-performing floats were financials, down an average 8.1%, barely ahead of energy floats, which fell on average 10%, the report found.

OnMarket BookBuild’s Bucknell said smaller IPOs could continue to outperform large ones, given the way IPOs are priced by sellers.

“Why is it that smaller IPOs are undervalued on float? Perhaps due to the paucity of institutional funds for microcaps, companies need to under-price in order to attract retail investors. Or perhaps it is that a higher return is needed to offset the higher risk of companies seeking growth capital,” he said.

Average Year End Price Performance by IPO Offer Size

Bucknell said the outlook for the IPO market in 2017 is bright, given the strong opening to equity markets and the large number of IPOs that were deferred from late 2016.

“We anticipate a strong start. If the commodity rally continues, the number of resource-based IPOs could pick up after a few lean years. We also expect that more listed investment companies will come to market in 2017 after a strong 2016, where investors took advantage of their comparatively low cost for diversification.”

2016 Average IPO Returns

During 2016, first day returns averaged 16.7% for the year’s 96 IPOs, which together raised $8.3 billion in new capital. The OnMarket 2016 IPO Report reveals average first day returns were 5% higher in 2016 than in 2015, indicating a robust aftermarket for most new floats.

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Ben Bucknell

The Australian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) market delivered strong gains in July, with the average monthly return from the nine companies listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) striking 15.7%, outperforming the S&P/ASX 200 by 9.4 per cent, according to a new report, the OnMarket July IPO Report 2016.

A total $995.7 million was raised in ASX IPOs during July, compared with $420 million in June. Oventus Medical was the strongest performer, jumping 62% over the month since listing on the 19th of July. Another strong gainer was from the healthcare sector, Race Oncology, up 22.5% over July. Big gains were posted by jeweller Michael Hill, which raised $440.6 million in the month’s biggest float, returning 8.7% to investors on its first day of trade and 28.7% over the month.

The month featured a private equity sale, the float of finance company Scottish Pacific by Next Capital, which gained 7.8% over July. Only one company, retailer Kogan.com, ended the month down.

Ben Bucknell, chief executive of OnMarket BookBuilds (OMB), said the report highlights the solid returns IPOs are delivering to investors, much greater than those of the overall share market. “The OnMarket July IPO Report 2016 reveals the average return from the 43 companies which had listed on the ASX during 2016 was 26.2%, compared to a return of 5.0% from the S&P/ASX 200. Both the returns and the number of companies listing were higher compared to the same period in 2015,” he said.

“However, many investors are missing out on these IPO investment opportunities. It is still the case that most IPOs in Australia are largely going to institutional investors,” said Bucknell.

“OnMarket is working to address this imbalance by offering companies the opportunity to offer IPO stock to all investors through its OnMarket tool. Importantly, the OnMarket allocation algorithm ensures investors get treated equally and fairly whether they are a wealthy institution or a mum-and-dad investor,” he said.

OnMarket is the world’s first direct access portal and app for IPOs and equity placements. Investors can sign up, bid and invest in companies without paying any commissions or brokerage.

“Investors can use the OnMarket app and portal to research IPO offerings made through the platform. Several companies are now offering their stock directly to the public through this digital platform, enabling all investors to access these important high-growth investment opportunities.

“Our system is built to generate instant notifications to investors and to host free company information so they can keep up to date with IPO offers and information. All of this can be done with a smartphone. Investors can easily swipe through the companies going public through the OnMarket platform. If an IPO interests them, members can then bid and pay for the stock via the OnMarket app and portal,” said Bucknell.

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Andrew Rogers

In recognition of the increasing investor demand for access to Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), CMC Markets and OnMarkets BookBuilds (OMB) have entered a deal which allows CMC Markets’ clients to bid for IPOs through their broking account using OnMarket’s platform.

IPOs are delivering stellar returns to investors, with the average gain on the 21 companies that listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in the second quarter sitting at 33.5%.

The deal is the first of its kind that OnMarket has signed with a stockbroker as the fintech expands its footprint in the investment community. Investors can seamlessly link to the OnMarket web portal through the CMC Markets’ online trading platform, using an application programming interface (API) providing access to the OnMarket platform. CMC Markets clients can then visit the IPO Centre and bid on IPOs by simply providing their CHESS Holder Identification Number (HIN) to have their securities appear within their broking account once the IPO has closed.

Ben Bucknell, Chief Executive Officer of OnMarket BookBuilds, said the partnership with CMC Markets would help to engender greater investor interest in IPOs.

“We welcome CMC Markets confidence in our technology, which will enable its clients to more easily bid on IPOs and research each deal thoroughly using the OnMarket tool.

“OnMarket’s best-in-breed ‘More Info’ panel includes video interviews with management, company releases, third party research and relevant press articles. The platform was designed in response to survey data that shows investors need seven sources of information before making an investment decision. This tool allows users to be truly self-directed,” he said.

“Straight through processing ensures direct matching of payments with bids and investors’ final allocations are automatically uploaded to their CMC Markets online broking account,” Bucknell said.

Andrew Rogers, Head of CMC Markets Stockbroking, said the deal would expand investment opportunities for its clients.

“In response to investor demand, we have integrated the OnMarket platform into our offering and created a dedicated IPO Centre within our online trading platform so investors can view information on IPOs in an easily digestible format and bid into these capital raisings in a seamless fashion. Importantly, shares are then allocated to their CMC Markets broking account, making it a very straightforward process,” said Rogers.
OnMarket is the world’s first direct access portal and app for IPOs and equity placements. Investors can sign up, bid and invest in companies without paying any commissions or brokerage.

OnMarket’s recently released Second Quarter IPO Report reveals how lucrative ASX IPO investments have been in recent times. That report showed that the average return from the 34 companies which had listed on the ASX over the year to June 30, 2016, was 23.3%, compared to a 1.2% fall for the S&P/ASX 200.

Those returns follow a strong IPO market in 2015 when the average return on the 93 companies that listed on the ASX was 23%. That compares well with the S&P/ASX 200, which lost 3% over the same period.

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Brendan Malone

Fintech companies are moving in on traditional financial services providers as their products and services gain popularity, grabbing market share and talent while forcing down costs.

Traditional jobs may be lost and even one of the big four banks could disappear, according to a panel of the nation’s leading fintech entrepreneurs speaking today at the Fintech CEOs on the Future of Finance seminar, being hosted by OnMarket BookBuilds.

Panellist Ben Bucknell, chief executive officer of OnMarket BookBuilds, an Australian fintech behind OnMarket, an innovative online portal giving retail investors direct access to IPOs, says fintech is reshaping the investment industry and opening up career opportunities for today’s university students.
“Investment opportunities that were only previously available to the very wealthy just five years ago are increasingly available to everyone though financial technology. There’s never been an easier time to transform a good idea into a business plan. That creativity is very attractive to young people. We’re aiming to draw them to fintech before they get trapped in a middle-office role preparing PowerPoint presentations just to feed an outsized mortgage,” Bucknell will tell the seminar, being hosted by OnMarket with the University of New South Wales’ University Network for Investing and Trading (UNIT).

Fellow panelist, Jost Stollmann chief executive officer of Tyro Payments, said the bank of the future will be a technology company with a banking licence. Tyro calls it the ‘Nextgen Bank’ and is building such a business. He predicts one of the big four banks will disappear with the fintech onslaught.

“According to a recent Frost & Sullivan study, Fintech in Australia – Trends, Forecasts and Analysis 2015 – 2020, the Australian fintech sector is set to take $10 billion in aggregated revenues away from the big Australian banks and contribute $3 billion of new revenue to the Australian financial services sector from 2015 to 2020. This train is coming fast. Can an old-style bank respond and stay competitive? Maybe. Can all of them? Probably not. Just think: one of the big four banks could disappear in the next 20 years. The only question is, which one will it be? Unless the banks can unbundle their products, overcome their legacy infrastructure and compete with low-cost ‘provider agnostic’ digital platforms, they might well cease to exist,” Stollmann said.

“Australia cannot afford to be complacent. More and more of this country’s best and brightest minds are leaving the big banks in order to start their own business and reinvent banking. The government, regulators, and the wider community should encourage and enable these entrepreneurs and their efforts. We are well-placed as a country to lead ‘Nextgen’ banking and it will take courage and commitment to get us there.

Fellow panellist Brendan Malone, chief operating officer of Acorns Australia, which has released an app that automatically invests a person’s spare change, says disruptive business models will survive and thrive, forcing down costs for customers while taking some business away from the banks. “Fintech companies will not only be able to capture bank customers, but drive down fees across the industry – in a similar way online stockbrokers did at the beginning of the century across the whole stockbroking industry,” he says. “However, a big challenge for fintech start-ups is winning the confidence of customers; winning confidence about providing a seamless and reliable service to our customers. People automatically have that confidence in the banks, but as a fintech, we’ve had to earn the trust of our customers.”

Another panellist, Doug Morris, chief executive of Sharesight, a leading online share portfolio management software business, agrees costs will be forced down, but only gradually. Traditional financial services jobs too will be lost.

“Technology companies can truly provide lower cost and better solutions, but the overall impact on finance won’t be a massive upheaval of the banking system overnight. Instead, you’ll see a constellation of apps that will have more of a slow burn effect. Remember that it takes wilful and passionate consumers to truly change an industry.”

Like OnMarket’s Bucknell, Morris says the fintech industry is drawing talent away from the banks and other incumbents. “It’s clear that there are fewer qualified candidates joining investment banks, for example, and they are going to tech companies instead. Moreover, traditional financial services distribution and marketing jobs are under threat. I’d encourage [university graduates] to gain experience in analytical, data-driven, marketing if possible. This skill set permeates most fintechs,” says Morris.

Georgia King-Siem, a senior manager with KPMG, says the disruption caused by fintech will continue as financial services become automated and commoditised – but only fintech businesses that truly innovate will stand out and win market share.

“Understanding and embracing innovation and the disruption it brings is necessary for survival – we must evolve or face extinction. On the flip side, those that innovate effectively will have a greater opportunity to increase profitability, productivity and develop a sustainable competitive advantage,” she says.

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Mobile usage at all time high.

New official data reveals the volume of data being downloaded on mobile telephones has skyrocketed to a record high, with much of the growth driven by rising app usage, according to Ben Bucknell, chief executive of OnMarket BookBuilds (OMB), the creator of the world’s first app giving investors free and fair access to Initial Pubic Offerings (IPOs).

New data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals as at 31 December 2015, there were a record 21.3 million mobile handset subscribers in Australia, an increase of 1.4% from 31 December 2014. The volume of data downloaded via mobile handsets for the three months ended 31 December 2015 jumped to a fresh high of 90,693 Terabytes, a 27% increase in data downloads from the three months ended 30 June 2015.

For the 21.3 million mobile handset subscribers, this equated to 1.4 GB of data downloaded per subscriber per month.

As more and more Australians use smartphone to access the internet, and take advantage of innovative apps to source information, manage their finances and connect with others, growth in mobile downloads would continue at very high rates, Bucknell said.

“We are an increasingly wired nation and it is very important for businesses to note: if your internet site isn’t yet mobile friendly and you don’t have an app, then you’re not likely reaching your audience and keeping up with your competitors.

“Australian consumers have shown a clear demand for accessing the internet on their smart phones and it is those business that make the most of technology and launch the most innovative and useful apps that will attract new customers,” said Bucknell.

The new OnMarket app is successfully drawing investors: it’s free to sign up and free to bid and invest in IPOs. All of this can be done with a smart phone. Investors can easily swipe through the companies going public through the OnMarket platform. If an IPO interests them, members can see the prospectus and independent research about the company.

“Our app has disrupted the staid world of financial markets and made it possible for retail investors to bid directly in IPOs for free. For the first time, companies can directly offer shares to the public, who can be guaranteed fair access,” Bucknell said.

According to the Investment Trends 2015 Second Half Online Broking Report, 635,000 unique Australian investors placed at least one share trade through an online broker in the 12 months to November 2015, up from 595,000 in November 2014 (7% growth year on year). An earlier Investment Trends report found around 60% of Australian share investors used a mobile device to trade shares.

“That’s a high proportion, but we’re expecting even greater growth in online share trading and the number of Australians managing their finances on apps as we catch up to countries like Hong Kong where smartphone penetration is even greater and the proportion of mobile share trading usage is even greater at 83%,” said Bucknell.

The ABS data reveals that the total volume of data downloaded on the internet in the three months ended 31 December 2015 was 1.71 million Terabytes (or 1.7 Exabytes). This was a 23.5% increase in downloads when compared with the three months ended 30 June 2015.

OnMarket’s best-in-breed ‘More Info’ panel includes video interviews with management, company releases, third party research, and relevant press articles. The platform was designed in response to survey data that shows investors need 7.2 sources of information before making an investment decision and allows users to be truly self-directed.

OMB’s presence as a fintech disruptor was firmly established when the technology was launched by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in October 2015, who said at the time: “The brilliance of this is simply that it makes it easier to buy, to trade. This will open up the investment market considerably.”

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