Cant, Pym and Bowler among fintech leaders recognised in 2022 Finnie Awards

Reinventure co-founder and partner Simon Cant has become the first individual to be inducted into Australia’s fintech hall of fame, receiving the industry recognition at the annual FinTech Australia Finnie Awards overnight. 

This is the seventh year of the Finnie Awards, which recognise the achievements of Australian fintech businesses and the people who lead them. 

These leaders also include Up co-founder Dominic Pym, who was named Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year; BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bower, who received the award for Female Fintech Leader of the Year; and Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year, Wagestream co-founder and CEO Josh Vernon. 

Cant founded Westpac-backed Reinventure in 2013 with Danny Gilligan as Australia’s first dedicated fintech VC fund, and was described by FinTech Australia chief executive Rehan D’Almedia as “a true asset to our ecosystem”. 

“Many of our winners this year, such as Flare and Zai, are flourishing due to early backing from Reinventure,” D’Almedia added. 

“While many fintechs received funding from Simon’s firm, countless others have benefitted from his advice and guidance over the years. He was also instrumental in capturing initial government support and focusing attention on fintech and regulation.”

Speaking to SmartCompany, Pym said being named Outstanding Fintech Leader “means so much to me and the whole team”.

“It’s the culmination of a decade of hard work, passion, and love from the whole team. Which reflects in our brand and our products. I’m just the front facing person, but it takes the whole team to deliver.” 

Among the startups to take home awards last night were Monoova, Nano Digital Home Loans, and Tanggram. 

While FinTech Australia pointed out that no one business picked up multiple awards this year — a first for the Finnies — some of last year’s winners were recognised again this year, with FrankieOne picking up the Excellence in Regtech award for the second year running, and Frollo scooping up the Excellence in Open Data award once again. 

In an email alert to subscribers this morning, Frollo said it is proud to have been recognised as a fintech producing an innovative open banking product. 

“But just like Open Banking, we’re only getting started,” the company told subscribers. “And for us, 2022 will be the year of ‘go live’. After two years of building, our focus is on bringing clients live and helping them improve the financial wellbeing of their customers.” 

The awards set the scene for another big year for Australian fintech — “the best ever” , according to Pym, as the sector continues to “grow, innovate and capture the imagination of an entire generation”.

That said, the current economic climate means “there will be heartache as well” , says Pym.

“Businesses will come and go, but together as a community we can all pitch in to help make peoples lives better.” 

Wow 🤩 We did it!! Only took 10 years of hard work, love, passion and imagination with the best team I’ve ever worked with in my life ❤️🆙⚡️ Thanks everyone at ⁦@Ferocia⁩ and ⁦@up_banking⁩ and ⁦@bendigobank⁩ and ⁦@ausfintech⁩ 😃 #finnies2022 #finniesawards pic.twitter.com/LA6a98rGLU

— Dom Pym (@dompym) June 23, 2022

The winners of the Finnie Awards 2022 are:

Best Workplace Diversity: Tanggram

Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year: Josh Vernon (Wagestream)

Female Fintech Leader of the Year: Caroline Bowler (BTC Markets)

Outstanding Fintech Leader of the Year: Dominic Pym (Up)

Excellence in Establishing Market Presence (Global): Wise

Excellence in Industry Collaborations & Partnerships: Flare

Excellence in Business Lending: Octet

Excellence in Consumer Lending: Driva and Wisr

Excellence in Payments (including remittance/fx): GoCardless

Excellence in Blockchain/Distributed Ledger: Civic Ledger

Excellence in Crypto and Digital Currencies/Wallets/Exchanges: Crypto.Com

Excellence in Regtech: FrankieOne

Excellence in Wealth Management (including PFM and Robo): Raiz Invest

Excellence in Open Data: Frollo

Excellence in Fintech Support Services: Astero

Deal of the Year: Zai

Best Partnership of the Year: Slyp and Divipay

People’s Choice (Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year): Betacarbon

People’s Choice (Fintech Organisation of the Year): Hnry

Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year: Nano Digital Home Loans

Fintech Organisation of the Year: Monoova

Hall of Fame Inductee: Simon Cant, Reinventure