The Sydney event is the fifth AltFi Summit internationally – there have been two events in 2014 and 2015 in both London and New York.
Although it is at the very start of its journey, perhaps where the UK and US industries were approximately five years ago, insiders have big expectations for the future growth of the Australian sector.
Leo Tyndall, CEO and Founder at Marketlend (sponsor of the event), commented:
“As recent as yesterday, Davos was talking about Fintech and its effects on the global economy, the Altfi conferences are a great opportunity to hear straight from the source. As a previous attendee of an Altfi conference, I was very impressed by the layout, the breakout sessions and really look forward to the upcoming conference.”
David Jackson, CEO and Founder at FundX (sponsor of the event), added:
“I'm really looking forward to the AltFi Australasia Summit coming up...the line-up of speakers is second to none and the topics to be discussed will give all attendees a great introduction to the burgeoning alternative finance industry in APAC”
The UK peer-to-peer lending industry was born ten years ago with the launch of Zopa – the UK’s largest peer-to-peer lending platform – and helped fill the credit gap banks left behind them after the Global Financial Crisis. Since then, the sector has boomed globally, especially in the US and in the UK.
In Australia, the alternative finance revolution started much later. Matt Symons and Greg Symons founded SocietyOne, the first fully compliant peer-to-peer lending business in the country, in 2012. In the following three-year period a number of competing platforms have launched, some local (i.e.: DirectMoney and MoneyPlace), others based on existing foreignbrands (i.e: RateSetter and ThinCats).
The last point deserves more attention. The latest global player to hit the Australian market is OnDeck – the US alternative online lender, founded in 2007, publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange and headline sponsor of the AltFi Australasia Summit 2016.
Cameron Poolman, CEO, OnDeck Australia, commented:
“On Deck Capital, Inc. was launched in 2007 to solve a major issue facing small businesses: financing. The founders saw a chance to think differently about lending to small businesses, evaluating them based on their actual performance, not personal credit. Since then OnDeck has delivered more than US$3 billion in loans to businesses across more than 700 industry sectors.
“We are now bringing the same idea to Australia, to provide small business owners with an alternative source of funding. We describe OnDeck as a company that actually wants to lend to small business. OnDeck loans are designed to help small businesses grow and thrive, unlocking their potential at the time they need it.”
The conference will provide an opportunity to take a deep dive into the marketplace lending model Attendees will hear from a host of leading global and Australian experts including the likes of OnDeck,Spotcap, LendAcademy, SocietyOne,Funding Circle and many more. They will provide an overview of what is happening in the international and Australasian non-bank lending market, as well as how this disruptive phenomenon is likely to evolve in the foreseeable future.
If you want to know more about the alternative finance space in Australasia, be sure to book your tickets for the AltFi Australasia Summit 2016 before they run out.
