Building an API Services Hub for Fintechs

Julian Fayad of LoanOptions.ai chats about Synapses, an API services hub for Fintechs

In this episode of Fintech Chatter, Dexter Cousins interviews Julian Fayad, CEO of LoanOptions.ai about the challenges and advantages of bootstrapping a fintech company from the ground up. 

Having experienced the challenges first hand, Julian has built Synapses, an API Services Hub for Fintechs.

LoanOptions.ai aims to revolutionise the loan application process. Julian shares insights into how they’re using AI to build a mobile first loan application process.

Julian first appeared on the show in 2023. We chat about his progress and the lessons he has learned over the past two years. Julian also talks about the transition from a broking business to a technology-focused company, and the launch of Synapses, the API services hub for Fintech! 

We also discuss the launch of HAILO and LoanOptions.ai, expansion into New Zealand and future plans for market expansion into the US and UAE.

Find out more: https://loanoptions.ai

Chapters

00:00 The Bootstrap Journey of a Fintech Founder

02:12 Innovating the Loan Application Process

10:45 Transitioning from Broking to Technology

18:04 Launching New Products and Partnerships

25:49 Building an API Services Hub for Fintechs

26:48 Navigating B2B Partnerships and SaaS Pricing Strategies

32:05 Transitioning from Brokerage to Tech: Lessons Learned

35:21 Building a Cohesive Team and Company Culture

39:47 Innovative Talent Acquisition Strategies

41:45 Valuable Lessons in Business Partnerships

46:22 Expanding Horizons: New Markets and Future Plans

Simon Schwarz - FreightInsure Ep. 200

About this Episode

In episode 200 of Fintech Chatter, host Dexter Cousins chats to Simon Schwartz, Co-Founder and CEO of FreightInsure, about his journey from fintech to insurtech.

Simon shares how his career from investment banking, to fintech, to insurtech (working with SocietyOne, Zip and BizCover along the way) has shaped his current scaleup, FreightInsure.

We take a deep dive into Simon’s strategy to build FreighInsure and how the MGA (Managing General Agent) model has enabled the distribution of embedded insurance products.

Simon reflects on the dual responsibilities as Co-Founder and CEO, and his life hacks for balance and well-being. 

About Simon

Simon is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of FreightInsure, Australia’s leading platform for embedded freight insurance. 

He started his career at Investec Bank in Australia, holding roles as Head of Investments, Head of Credit and Head of Board Risk and Capita. Simon has sat on boards as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman at several investee companies.  He has also acted on advisory boards at Zip Co and Middle, and is a Board member of Insurtech Australia and the Regulatory and Compliance Working Group.

Simon is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, holds an MBA (Exec), Masters of Applied Finance, and is the recipient of the University Medal for pure mathematics from the University of Sydney. He was an Honorary Fellow at Macquarie University’s Applied Finance Centre and a member of the  Menzies School of Health Research Development Committee. 

About FreightInsure

FreightInsure offers embedded goods-in-transit insurance directly from a transport company's booking platform. Shippers no longer need to buy annual marine insurance policies, but can simply purchase insurance on a needs basis, when booking their freight, within less than a minute.

Key Takeaways

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

05:54 The Birth of FreightInsure

12:01 Innovation in Distribution

17:57 Future Innovations and AI Applications

25:15 Identifying Market Opportunities

30:54 The Dual Role of Founder and CEO

39:00 The InsurTech Landscape in Australia

Links & Resources:

Liam Millward - Instant Ep 197

About this Episode

In episode 197 of the Fintech Chatter Podcast, host Dexter Cousins reconnects with Liam Millward, CEO and Co-Founder of Instant. They discuss the remarkable growth and evolution of Instant since their last conversation. Liam shares insights on shifting from a product-focused mindset to a revenue-driven approach, navigating challenges in a competitive landscape.

He shares the importance of building a high-performance team. Liam emphasises the significance of leadership, decision-making, and the role of personal experiences in shaping his entrepreneurial journey. The conversation also touches on the future of Instant and the strategies for market expansion.

The Instant Journey

As CEO and Co-founder of Instant; Liam is on a mission to power the world's most innovative brands, helping to drive their revenue and retention on autopilot. He launched his first funding round led by Blackbird, at age 17, generating $7.5m, the biggest pre-seed to date in Australia.

As the business grew to $1.5m in annualised revenue, they have raised an additional $30m across Seed and Series A rounds. Hitting a healthy 1 million shoppers within 12 months of their launch.

Since Instant launched its Checkout product, they have gone on to develop Audiences and Targeting offering their 3 product across the US and Australia.

This is a triple-pronged approach to customer retention and greater outcomes for business revenue.

About Liam Millward

Liam started his first venture aged 13 in a caravan, travelling around Australia and the world with his family. His love of travel resulted in him curating and developing a well-known travel magazine, Navigate Australia with a monthly readership of 50,000+.

Key Takeaways

  • Liam reflects on the rapid growth of Instant since its inception.
  • The importance of focusing on revenue rather than just product development.
  • Building a strong sales strategy is crucial for startup success.
  • Creating a high-performance culture is essential for team motivation.
  • Leadership requires transparency and accountability within the team.
  • Identifying and nurturing talent is key to sustaining growth.
  • Travel and personal experiences can significantly influence an entrepreneurial mindset.
  • Having a clear vision can inspire teams to achieve ambitious goals.
  • Market expansion requires understanding and adapting to new environments.
  • Failing as a company is not an option; resilience is vital.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Instant and Liam's Journey

05:28 Shifting Focus: From Product Obsession to Revenue

11:04 Sales Strategies for Rapid Revenue Growth

16:40 Leadership and Transparency in Startups

22:27 Creating an Inspiring Vision for the Team

27:00 High Performance Work Environments

34:26 The Impact of Life Challenges on Entrepreneurship

42:13 Setting Ambitious Goals

49:14 The Realities of Starting a Business

Links & Resources:

Paul Weingarth - Slyp Ep 195

We have a great Fintech Chatter Podcast for you this week, a transformative piece in more ways than one. Dexter Cousins caught up with Paul Weingarth, Co-founder & CEO of Slyp, Australia’s only independent startup backed by all four major banks.



About This Episode

12 months ago Paul and Slyp were in a challenging place. Paul's health and fitness had suffered with the stress of running a startup and Slyp were facing capital runway challenges. Things weren't looking great.

After a week of playing the victim (and a good talking to himself), he decided enough was enough and he needed to change right now! By focussing on his health first, the past year has been phenomenal. Paul is back in his best shape since his Uni days, shedding 25kg and doing his first triathlon. And Slyp has bounced back from its challenges with the launch of Go Rewards!

This is one of our favourite-ever episodes. Paul first appeared as an early guest - to see first-hand his journey and to be able to share it with you through the podcast is something we're really proud of!

About Slyp

Since Slyp launched in 2017 they have made it their mission to bring brands closer to their customers. The digitising of receipts and connecting the "SKU to Who" has allowed them to grow their market presence. Their DNA has always been about enriching the customer experience and helping retailers unleash the power of their POS data, to drive targeted engagement opportunities with their customers.

Go Rewards Powered By Slyp

They recently launched Go Rewards the first turnkey, full-stack loyalty platform that drives smarter commerce allowing retailers including, Kmart, Country Road Group, Chemist warehouse and countless others, the opportunity to harness the power of consumer buying, getting to "Know & Grow" their customer relationships.

About Paul

With a career rooted in digital commerce and payments, Paul previously led PayPal Australia’s growth team. His expertise and passion lie in customer experience, with a vision to revolutionise payment experiences, delivering step-change value to both retailers and their suppliers.

Outside of work, Paul has reignited his dedication to health and fitness, recently competing in his first triathlon.

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Ryan Edwards-Pritchard - Anna.Money Ep 194

In the latest episode of the Fintech Chatter podcast, Dexter reconnects with Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, CEO of Anna.Money.

Ryan chats to Dexter about the recent merger of Cape and how he's joined forces with the UK's Anna.Money to bring a new approach to supporting the 2 million plus small businesses in Australia.

About this episode

Ryan shares the back story of launching Cape in Australia and the challenges he faced getting through the pandemic, securing funding, growing the business and then navigating the funding crunch.

They discuss the synergies that led to Cape being acquired by ANNA and Ryan shares his learnings and advice for other founders seeking an acquisition partner.

Ryan also shares the plans for growth in the region as well as some unique product offerings and services for the Aussie market.

About Anna.Money

As "The business account that does your accounting and taxes" Anna.Money provides a smart all-in-one business account for money, invoicing, expenses, bookkeeping and taxes.

About Ryan

Ryan would describe himself as a British expat Fintech Nerd. His background in the UK saw him heading up Europe's largest digital marketplace for SME Finance in Funding Options.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on [Apple Podcasts/Spotify/Your Preferred Platform]. Your feedback helps us bring more engaging content and insight.

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David Hanna - Finmo

In episode 187 of the Fintech Chatter podcast, Dexter Cousins is joined by CEO of Finmo, David Hanna.

David talks to Dexter about how he and the team are tackling a global problem affecting pretty much every SME.

David shares his Fintech journey as the Head of Risk and Compliance  at Paypal and Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Rapyd.

Tune in to find out how to make the transition from risk to CEO, the optimal way to launch a global Fintech and how to win enterprise clients without a marketing budget!

About David Hanna

David is the CEO and co-founder of Finmo and has over 20 years of expertise in the financial services and payments sector. Prior to founding Finmo, he held global leadership roles in Risk and Compliance for Financial Services companies headquartered in various locations globally.

David has held senior roles across companies such as PayPal, Ernst & Young, Zurich, ING Bank, Banxa and others. He serves on several advisory boards and has invested in many startups around the world.

About Finmo

Finmo is a global B2B treasury management platform that is focused on providing the necessary tools for the “CFO Office” including finance teams, CFOs, and treasurers. The business provides a single platform to enable the core elements of treasury to be managed from one place.

Finmo does this by providing four core modules to its clients which are;

Money movement
Cash management, including AR/AP modules
FX Hedging capabilities
Integrations into existing accounting and enterprise software

Following 20+ years of working across the financial services industry with founders from organisations such as PayPal, Citi, and other big names, the Finmo exec team realized that everyone has a treasury problem!

In identifying this problem, we believe there is a significant gap in the market for a solution that serves the end-to-end treasury management lifecycle.

Stake's Co-Founders on Raising $93.5M and Scaling Globally

Stake Co-Founders Matt Leibowitz and Dan Silver join Dexter Cousins in episode 182 of Fintech Chatter Podcast.

How Stake Raised $93.5M With Tiger Global

In another one of our 'Origin Stories' Matt and Dan share their incredible journey from becoming friends to becoming business partners. Stake is one of Australia's most successful Fintech. They have raised US $93.5m to date with Tiger Global investing in their $50m Series A in March 2022.

Their international success and growth has led Matt and Dan to believe the opportunity ahead of them is much bigger than they first envisaged back in 2017 when they launched the business.

When Co-Founders Should Step Back From the CEO Role

Entrepreneurs are often known for their adaptability in driving scaleups, but many find it difficult adapting to someone else at the helm. For many scaleups, the CEO shuffle is a key part of long term success, but why?

Stake is the latest scaleup to appoint a new CEO,  Jon Howie, seeing Matt return to his roots in product and business strategy.

For many founders, the thought of letting go of their baby is unfathomable.

Dexter chats to Matt and Dan about their thinking in bringing in Jon and their appointment last year of Chair, Geoff Lloyd.

Tune in for an honest, thoughtful and candid discussion on life as co-founders and 'letting go of the baby' as we celebrate the first seven years of Stake.

Dan and Matt share lessons they've learned, the decisions they've made and the people they've brought on board as they Stake a market leading position in the next seven years.

Download the Stake App

Find out about Stake careers 

Patrick Coghlan CreditorWatch

In episode 175 Dexter is joined by a returning guest, Patrick Coghlan of CreditorWatch, a leading Australian data and technology company offering a complete suite of credit reporting products and data insights covering the entire customer lifecycle.

About Patrick Coghlan

Patrick is the CEO of CreditorWatch. In 2010, he became one of the three founding employees of CreditorWatch. He was appointed CEO in December 2018.

Patrick is a specialist commentator on issues in the credit industry and regularly appears in the media as well as presenting to corporate and government stakeholders. He has played an integral role in transforming the approach to the management of B2B credit risk in Australia.

Patrick has led the development of CreditorWatch’s values and team-spirited culture, as well as driving the company to considerable growth. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Sydney University and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

About CreditorWatch

CreditorWatch is a leading Australian data and technology company that provides businesses with access to unique data and innovative products. By using our platform, our customers can confidently manage their commercial relationships, improve productivity and reduce financial risk.

As a commercial credit reporting bureau, CreditorWatch offers a complete suite of credit reporting products and data insights covering the entire customer lifecycle, from customer onboarding and credit decision automation to credit risk management and automated collections.

Christian Westerlind Wigstrom - Monoova Ep 146

Dexter Cousins is joined by Christian Westland Wigstrom Co-Founder and CEO of Monoova for episode 146 of the Fintech Chatter podcast.

Dexter and Christian first connected in 2018 when Christian did a presentation on the future of Payments title The Death of Payments 2030. Christian presented a day in the life of a woman named May to predict how payments will have changed by 2030. Christian argued that while payments would not die, paying would.

5 years on Dexter invites Christian to share an update and discuss if any of his predictions are coming true. Or has he changed his mind?

About Christian
Christian is the Co-Founder and CEO of Monoova, a Sydney-based, B2B payments automation platform and a member of the Fintech Australia Board since November 2022.

Over the past five years, Christian has led the building of a company servicing domestic and international tech-first platforms such as Wise, Nium and a significant portion of the Australian digital-currency industry. To date, Monoova has processed $75bn through its API-driven solution, more than half of which since the start of FY22. Christian has been a finalist for the ‘Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year’ by Fintech Australia in 2020, 2021 & 2022.

Born in Sweden, Christian obtained a Master’s Degree in Economics, and a PhD in International Relations from Oxford University in the UK. Following a position as speech writer and economic advisor in the House of Lords in London, Christian moved to Zimbabwe to work as Chief of Staff at a Harare-based agricultural group with operations across Southern and Eastern Africa. He arrived in Sydney in late 2016
 

About Monoova

Monoova is a leading, Australian, payment service provider.  Via API integration, Monoova provides businesses comprehensive automated and real-time payment solutions that address and resolve traditional pain points of payment processing and management. 

Through, Monoova’s customisable solution, businesses can send, receive, and manage funds transfers more efficiently, reduce costs and improve their customers' payment experience. 

Servicing domestic and international tech-first platforms, Monoova has processed over $75bn.

As the first mover in the market on the new domestic PayTo transaction type earlier this year, Monoova already provides ‘real-time direct debits’ at scale in the market.

https://www.monoova.com/

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007: CANVAS | David Lavecky

In Ep. 007 of Blockchain Chatter Dexter Cousins talks to David Lavecky, CEO and Co-Founder of CANVAS. 

Tune in as they discuss the latest RBA CBDC eAUD initiative and the work CANVAS is piloting on Atomic FX settlements.

As a payments and fintech veteran, David shares his thoughts on the convergence of blockchain and payments and why he feels the time is right for mainstream adoption of the technology.

About CANVAS

CANVAS is a global blockchain company with a mission to digitise finance. They offer decentralized capital market infrastructure that enables financial institutions and governments to easily expand their reach into the digital economy.

Canvas Connect is a privacy focused Layer 2 ZK network built for finance and the digital economy. Connect extends the capabilities of Ethereum with assurances of privacy, high speed and low costs.

Connect uses an API first model that supports easy integration with no solidity skills required.

Capital Markets Applications are built on the network that enable the Transfer, Trade & Investment of Tokenised Real World Assets, Stablecoins, CBDCs & Digital Assets, all with privacy and secured by Ethereum.

With a deep understanding of financial markets and the digital economy, CANVAS is committed to driving the digital transformation of banks, financial institutions, and governments in the modern landscape. By providing innovative solutions that are faster, more secure, and more cost-effective than traditional systems, Canvas is helping to unlock the potential of digital finance globally.

About David Lavecky

David is a highly experienced technology entrepreneur and investor, and CEO and Co-Founder of CANVAS 

He was previously the Co-Founder, COO & EVP of Pure Commerce which was one of Australia’s first high-growth fintech companies, providing electronic payment infrastructure to banks globally. Following the sale of Pure Commerce to Euronet WorldWide (NASDAQ: EEFT), David was retained to continue the global growth, working with major banks and financial institutions across the globe.

As their next venture, David and his brother Daniel Co-Founded CANVAS in the belief that Blockchain technologies, Digital Assets, & Tokenisation will radically transform financial and capital markets over the next decade with trillions of $ of securities and currencies to be tokenized and traded 24/7/365.

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Fintech News | Silicon Valley Bank

What a crazy week! Dexter Cousins is joined in person by Carolyn Breeze as co-host of Fintech News. They cover the latest Aus Fintech news from capital raises, acquisitions, legislation and layoffs.

Scott Heyes dials in from the US to give a first-hand account of the SVB collapse and what happens next.

And Carolyn shares her advice to founders looking to raise capital in the current climate.

Tune in to this jam-packed show as we cover:

- SVB - What happened, why, and what it means for Aus Fintechs
- Cuscal Acquires Basiq
- Till raises $70m in Series D round
- Xero lays off 800 staff
- Datamesh raise $30m
- RBA announces CBDC pilot scheme
- Revolut turns a profit

To find out more about Scalare Partners - https://www.scalarepartners.com/

You can follow Carolyn Breeze - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolynbreeze/

To Find out more about Mendoza Ventures -  https://mendoza-ventures.com/

You can follow Scott Heyes - https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottheyes/

This months Fintech Startup to watch is https://www.planpay.com/