Reinventure founder Simon Cant inducted into fintech's Hall of Fame at Finnies awards

Monoova, Nano Digital Home Loans, BTC Markets, Wagestream, Tanggram, and Up are among the biggest winners of the seventh annual FinTech Australia Finnie Awards.

For the first time in the awards’ history, no company won more than a single prize, with FinTech Australia CEO Rehan D’Almedia saying it demonstrated the growth of the sector in recent years.

“When I first started working on the Finnies, we had a handful of companies cleaning up several awards,” he said.

“Now, thanks to the level of competition and diversity in the market, companies are lucky to win a single award. It’s yet another indicator as to just how much the sector has grown and matured in such a short time.”

Payments firm Moonova was recognised as FinTech Organisation of the Year, while Nano Digital Home Loans picked up Emerging FinTech Organisation of the Year. Tanggram won the Best Workplace Diversity Award.

Dominic Pym from Up was named FinTech Leader of the Year, while BTC Markets CEO Caroline Bower won Female FinTech Leader of the Year. Wagestream co-founder and CEO Josh Vernon was awarded Emerging FinTech Leader of the Year.

Reinventure co-founder and partner Simon Cant was inducted as the first individual in the Finnies Hall of Fame, joining industry leaders Airwallex and Afterpay.

Cant is MD of Westpac-backed Reinventure, Australia’s first dedicated fintech VC firm, which launched in late 2013, with $150 million to invest in early stage fintechs. He was also the founding president of Fintech Australia.

D’Almedia said theyacould not think of a more worthy individual for the Hall of Fame.

“Many of our winners this year, such as Flare and Zai, are flourishing due to early backing from Reinventure,” he said

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

Here are the 2022 Finnies winners

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