Afiniation Showcase Wrap-Up
We were pleased to present at the inaugural Afiniation Showcase event in Sydney last week. As a setting, you can't beat Sydney's Ivy Ballroom, and the format was really refreshing: 30 fintech startups were given 7 minutes each to present their innovative technology to the audience of industry insiders, investors and journalists. Presenters had to demo actual products, so there was no "death by PowerPoint", and it was really great to see so many live demos go off without a hitch!
The event kicked-of with an intro by Linda Duncombe, Managing Director of Marketing, Digital and Customer Experience at Citi, followed by an inspiring keynote by New Zealand Trade Commissioner David McLeish:
David McLeish speaking on #fintech innovation: "New Zealand prides itself not only on its open spaces but on its open minds." #afiniation
— Daniel Paperny (@dpaperny) September 23, 2015
As a Wellington-founded company, we were pleased to see a few other Kiwi companies hop over the Tasman to present their fintech services. Tan Huynh from Grow Wellington pulled the Wellington-based companies together for a quick photo op:
Doug Morris (Sharesight), Tan Huynh (Grow Wellington), Ian Dunbar (Afiniation/SuiteBox), Jason Gleason (EightWireData), Kendall Flutey (Banqer)
Speaking of Wellington-based fintechs, we were really impressed by Banqer -- an interactive learning tool that assists in teaching financial literacy to children. Co-founder Kendall Flutey demonstrated how Banqer gamifies concepts like compound interest and natural disaster scenarios. It's such a cool idea and the app itself looks great.
We also really enjoyed Avoka's demo. Their "frictionless" technology simplifies long application processes for the financial, insurance and government sectors. Personally, we'd love to see them tackle those tedious immigration forms we have to complete every time we travel overseas!
Our mate Nick also did a great live demo of the stock market visualistion app he co-founded, Simply Wall St. We recommend checking it out if you haven't already.
Nick van den Berg (Simply Wall St)
When it was Sharesight's turn, our CEO Doug Morris did a rapid-fire live demo of our most-popular features:
Photo: Kendall Flutey
Feedback from the audience was really good, and we had the chance to meet-up with some great folks at our stand afterwards.
. @Sharesight giving a pro pitch at @afiniation tech event. Good stuff.
— Rimbal Financial (@rimbalfin) September 24, 2015
A slick demo from @Sharesight. I'd sign up right now if I wasn't already a devoted user #Afiniation #FinTech pic.twitter.com/jyDbaTkvqv
— Kendall Flutey (@kendallflutey) September 24, 2015
Great 7 min story from @Sharesight on their solution for #advisers and #accountants. well done Doug. #fintech #ETFs
— Tim Bradbury (@TimBrad888) September 24, 2015
A huge thanks and congratulations to the folks at Afiniation for inviting us along and for pulling-off a fantastic event. We're glad to be part of the Afiniation Financial Technology Network and look forward to seeing what's next.