launch-admin
Coding classes for girls and the wonderful women in their life to role model learning in STEM
by launch-admin Jan 29, 2019 0 NewsCoding classes for girls and the wonderful women in their life to role model learning in STEM
Girl Geek Academy school holiday workshops will upskill parents and guardians alongside their children to address the wider societal issues of gender imbalance
Australia, 9 January 2019: Girl Geek Academy has partnered with regional women’s health promotion agency, Women’s Health East to deliver a series of STEM-focused workshops aimed at tackling gender imbalance in technology careers and promoting equality in the classroom.
The workshops will be rolled out in January and March 2019 across Melbourne’s East to support mums, daughters, aunts, nieces, grandparents, neighbours, and more groups of women and girls to learn coding together. Every young person will bring along a parent or guardian and Girl Geek Academy will be delivering the successful #MissMakesCode program model, which is specifically aimed at engaging young girls aged 5-8 into STEM.
Girl Geek Academy co-founder and CEO, Sarah Moran said: “Currently there is a lack of a STEM-based program that educates both women and girls in the same classroom, and we know the exponential value of working to build intergenerational STEM knowledge. By bringing women and girls together into one workshop, we are able to create something more vital and long-lasting — an instant role model within their immediate family.
“By upskilling the women parents and guardians, the girls have a role model in their household who shows confidence and interest in technology, and can work with them on coding games and STEM schoolwork. It could also be an opportunity for the women to explore a new career path option if they wish to cross-skill into this in-demand profession.”
The sessions will focus not only on technical coding skills, but also contain content and discussions around gender equality and cyber safety. Studies show that gender equality is a precondition for the prevention of family violence and other forms of violence against women and girls.
“It’s a privilege to partner with Women’s Health East on this initiative. Studies have shown societies with more gender equality have decreased rates of family violence, because it creates a society based on respect. Gender equality affects everyone, men and women, and should be a priority both in the workplace and in the home,” said Ms Moran.
Women’s Health East is the women’s health promotion agency for the Eastern Metropolitan Region (EMR) of Melbourne. Its vision is equality, empowerment, health and wellbeing for all women. A key priority of Women’s Health East is advancing gender equality, through important projects like #MissMakesCode.
“Women are underrepresented in STEM-related fields. This is not because of a lack of talent, rather women and girls experience a range of gendered barriers to getting involved in STEM. Some of these begin early where girls are not encouraged to develop analytical and spatial skills through play. #MissMakesCode is a fun way to begin to bridge this divide for young girls in the EMR,” said Jayde McBurnie,Together For Equality & Respect Manager.
Through this initiative, both Girl Geek Academy and Women’s Health East hope to address the issue of gender inequality in STEM subjects, which is a leading cause of workplace inequality as there are simply not enough women with the skills to work in technology and STEM careers.
Ms Moran continued: “Our long-term aim is to explore whether this important behaviour modelling will result in influencing more girls to continue with STEM education, which we will do with ongoing evaluation at regular intervals after the workshop.”
These workshops are supported by the Victorian Government as part of Free From Violence – Victoria’s strategy to prevent family violence and all forms of violence against women. The initiative’s goal of creating a safe and equal society for all Victorians is championed by Girl Geek Academy, whose focus is on addressing a broad range of technology gender equality issues.
Supporting partners also include Yarra Ranges Council, Inspiro Community Health, Maroondah Council, Whitehorse Council and Monash Council.
For more information, please visit: www.girlgeekacademy.com/events
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CA ANZ partners with Fishburners to capitalise on disruption in the profession
by launch-admin Jan 29, 2019 0 NewsCA ANZ partners with Fishburners to capitalise on disruption in the profession
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Australia’s largest startup community, Fishburners, doubles its Brisbane operation in second year
by launch-admin Jan 29, 2019 0 NewsTech sector in shock at AA Bill:
StartupAUS deeply concerned about big step backwards
for Australian technology
Fishburners is a family of entrepreneurs who are committed to collaborating and building something big. Members are supported in their endeavors with perks, probonos, mentoring, events and programs etc.
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B2B (36%)
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SaaS (29%)
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iOS app (28%)
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Android app (23%)
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Marketing (23%)
High-profile alumni that were ‘born’ at Fishburners include successful startups such as Koala, GoCatch, graphic design marketplace DesignCrowd, Code Camp, Tinybeans, Madpaws, Jayride and Hyper Anna. Koala, Australia’s highest-rated mattress, raised $15m and generated $14m in revenue in its first year.
Two Health Tech Fishburners Finalists in 2018 Google.org Impact Challenge
by launch-admin Jan 29, 2019 0 NewsTech sector in shock at AA Bill: StartupAUS deeply concerned about big step backwards for Australian technology
by launch-admin Dec 9, 2018 0 NewsTech sector in shock at AA Bill:
StartupAUS deeply concerned about big step backwards
for Australian technology
StartupAUS’ Fifth Crossroads Report: Australia’s next generation of growth companies flourish amidst record capital – despite tech-phobic climate, talent shortages
by launch-admin Dec 9, 2018 0 NewsStartupAUS’ Fifth Crossroads Report: Australia’s next generation of growth companies flourish amidst record capital – despite tech-phobic climate, talent shortages
South Australia emerging as a global hot spot for space and defence
Key Sector Statistics and Milestones
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Canva raised $50.9m in January 2018 at a valuation of more than US$1 billion. According to CB Insights, it is the only privately-held tech company in Australia valued at over US$1 billion.
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Gilmour Space Technologies, a rocket launch provider based in Pimpama, Queensland, raised $19m in September 2018 to push towards launching its first commercial hybrid rocket by 2020. The Series B round was led by Main Sequence Ventures and Blackbird Ventures. Blackbird also led the company’s $5m Series A round in May 2017.
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Culture Amp, a Melbourne-based employee feedback and analytics platform, raised US$40m ($54.3m) in Series D funding in July 2018, following on from its Series C round of US$20m ($26.4m) in June 2017.
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Havven, a blockchain startup specialising in decentralised payments, raised US$30m ($38.6m) in its 90-minute initial coin offering (ICO) on 1 March 2018.
Sophie Hanson
Launch Management Group Pty Ltd
office: + 61 2 9492 1003
mobile: + 61 4 1792 7316
website: www.launchgroup.com.au
Tyro to develop one-stop POS and app integration for SMEs
by launch-admin Oct 30, 2018 0 News
Tyro to develop one-stop POS and app integration for SMEs
Tyro platform to connect customer apps with POS systems and merchants to reduce admin for all
Sydney, Australia, 14 May 2018 – Tyro, Australia’s business-only bank, today announced a deal that will see it deliver an API platform designed to remove the complexities and expense of integrating multiple apps and point of sale (POS) systems, by providing a single integration solution.
Expanding on its deep experience in payments integration with POS systems, Tyro’s platform will sit at the centre of a network that seamlessly connects POS systems and apps. It will eliminate the need for POS players to build and maintain multiple integrations, and in doing so, they will benefit from significant cost savings, and an increased value proposition to their customers. For small to medium enterprises (SMEs), it will radically simplify how they onboard, manage and switch between the plethora of apps available to businesses and those that are increasingly being demanded by consumers.
Initially focusing on the hospitality industry, Tyro has formed partnerships with six leading POS providers in the sector to develop and deliver a much-needed transformation to the connectivity between POS, apps and merchants. Central to the agreements is Tyro’s role as the exclusive app integrator and platform provider for these six POS providers in respect of certain integrations (including but not limited to delivery, ordering, reservation, data and analytics, logistics and workforce management apps). Tyro believes that this innovative ‘one-stop’ solution will encourage other POS providers to sign up alongside foundation partners, Bepoz, Fedelta, Idealpos, OrderMate, Redcat and SwiftPOS. Tyro already has a number of arrangements in place with app providers and is looking to significantly increase this number over the coming months, focusing on those that provide the best experience for merchants and their customers.
As it stands today, consumers are ’loving’ the accessibility of order-ahead apps – they can order from anywhere to anywhere at their convenience, receive offers, discounts and loyalty points instantly, and save time. Meanwhile, merchants are weighed down, currently requiring the installation of multiple separate devices and plug-in points in order to service the range of different order-ahead, loyalty and booking apps their customers want to use. This causes clutter and mayhem at the front counter. At the end of the day, reconciliation of the orders generated from each separate app is a labour-intensive chore.
Robbie Cooke, CEO of Tyro, said, “Merchants are increasingly interacting with their customers through order-ahead apps, loyalty and rewards apps and bookings apps, amongst others. While customers are loving how easy these apps are to use, the complexity of juggling multiple systems to accommodate different apps and POS systems is an onerous by-product of meeting customer expectations, not to mention the counter space all the devices occupy and the tangle of cables.”
“Tyro is uniquely positioned to solve this problem and streamline merchant processes with our POS partners. Currently, we directly integrate with more than 240 POS and PMS systems, more than any other bank in Australia, and we have the in-house technical capability to take a lead creating a broad ecosystem of POS software providers and apps.”
Mr Cooke said the scaling potential for the platform is exciting and far-reaching. Merchants will not need to be payments or banking customers of Tyro to access the connectivity benefits of this initiative.
Tyro is diversifying its offering and responding to merchant needs through innovative design and a single-minded focus on delivering a better business experience. The platform will extend Tyro’s offerings outside its existing EFTPOS and banking space.
Tyro’s launch into app integration is another indication of its strong commitment to SMEs following the release of its industry-first least-cost routing product, Tap & Save, and the launch of Flexible Settlements, which allows merchants to choose a daily settlement time to suit their business operations.[1]
“In time, we intend to extend the platform to offer benefits to retail and health merchants, as well as other uses including staff management, analytics, loyalty, marketing, booking and inventory management. The platform will also enable us to consolidate and deliver insights gathered across multiple applications to help merchants run their businesses,” Mr Cooke added.
Tyro plans to bring the platform to the hospitality sector during financial year 2019 and roll out across other sectors shortly thereafter.
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About Tyro
Tyro is an Australian Bank and operates under the supervision of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Tyro provides credit, debit and eftpos card acquiring, Medicare and private health fund claiming and rebating services, as well as an interest bearing transaction and deposit account offering integration with Xero cloud accounting. Tyro takes money on deposit and offers unsecured cash-flow based lending to Australian EFTPOS merchants.
Tyro currently serves more than 22,000 customers with its own in-house, cloud-based mobile core banking platform.
For more information, visit tyro.com.
Media Contact
Christine Kardashian
Launch Group
02 9492 1000 | 0416 005 703
[1] Applies to Tyro settled funds only – excludes HealthPoint and funds settled directly by Afterpay, American Express, JCB and Diners. Xenta or Xentissimo model terminals may need to be restarted to update the new flexible settlement time or manually updated via the terminal menu.
David Thodey AO to join the Tyro Payments Board
by launch-admin Oct 30, 2018 0 News
David Thodey AO to join the Tyro Payments Board
Sydney, Australia, 25 October 2018 – Tyro, Australia’s fast-growing business bank, today announced that David Thodey AO has accepted an invitation to join its Board as a non-executive director with the appointment to take effect in November 2018. In announcing the appointment Tyro’s Chairman Mr Kerry Roxburgh said:
“It is with great pleasure that I announce David Thodey is joining Tyro as a non-executive director. David’s extensive management, leadership and technology experience makes him a welcome addition to our Board. I am looking forward to David joining us in November and having the benefit of his expertise as we chart Tyro’s future course”.
Mr Thodey is a global technology and telecommunications executive with more than 30 years of experience – 25 of those in Asia. He has a track record of creating brand and shareholder value and has been successfully involved in innovation across a wide range of sectors. Mr Thodey was the CEO of Telstra (2009 to 2015) and prior to that had a 22-year career with IBM, working in senior marketing and sales positions, including CEO of IBM Australia/New Zealand.
He is currently Chairman of CSIRO and Director of Ramsay Health Care and Jobs for NSW. He is active in the venture capital industry as an advisor to Square Peg Capital and holds Board positions with several private companies. Mr Thodey is also Chairman, NSW Quantum Computing Fund, a member of the Advisory Board of United Healthcare and is on the Investment Committee of Evans & Partners Global Disruption Fund that listed on the ASX in August 2017.
Mr Thodey has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Anthropology, from Victoria University in New Zealand, and completed post-graduate studies at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business in Chicago, Illinois. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Science and Technology from Deakin University in 2016 and was awarded an Order of Australia in 2017 for integrity and leadership in business.
For more information contact:
Media enquiries: Lisa Vitaris – 0408 692 340
Investor enquiries: Robbie Cooke – contact Carolyn Prendergast on 0409 910 561
New market-leading features from Tyro supporting SMEs
by launch-admin Oct 30, 2018 0 News
New market-leading features from Tyro supporting SMEs
Flexible Same-Day Settlement allows faster access to funds and Xero payroll integration offers time-saving benefits
Sydney, Australia, 3 September 2018 – Tyro, Australia’s business-only bank, announced two major advancements to its EFTPOS and Bank Account offerings – Flexible Same-Day Settlement and payroll integration through Xero accounting software. These innovations have been developed from an understanding of the real-world environment small to medium enterprises (SMEs) operate in and reinforces Tyro’s market position as the leading business bank for SMEs.
A key pain point for merchants is the time it takes to access their funds, particularly for businesses that close late (e.g. hospitality) or trade on weekends (e.g. retail). Tyro recognises end of day trading times for merchants vary from business to business and in response to this, Tyro has further enhanced its EFTPOS solution introducing Flexible Same-Day Settlement to benefit Australian businesses, especially SMEs. Flexible Same-Day Settlement enables Tyro merchants to receive Tyro EFTPOS settled funds into their Tyro Bank Account at a time they choose between 8.00pm to 5.00am AEST, seven days a week (including public holidays).
With Flexible Same-Day Settlement, merchants are able to better manage reconciliations, as well as cashflow and operations. It helps to ensure a more accurate and consistent reconciliation process as merchants choose when their day ends rather than payments being split over a number of days. For example, hospitality merchants that may close as late as 1.00am can receive their funds in one lump sum at the end of their trading day. Other financial institutions may have a cut off time of 9.00pm which may see the merchant receiving some funds before 9.00pm and any sales incurred after this time may be received the following day, further complicating payment reconciliation. On the other hand, choosing Flexible Same-Day Settlement with Tyro, retailers can get paid as early as 8.00pm instead of having to wait for a prescribed payment time.
In addition to Flexible Same-Day Settlement, Tyro has introduced an integrated payroll solution with Xero. Tyro has eliminated the extra step of having to separately process payroll by allowing merchants to input pay runs through Xero, which is linked to their Tyro Smart Account – saving merchants time without having to download and upload ABA files anymore. Within a week of launching, there was a 20 per cent take up with current Tyro customers who are also existing Xero customers. The popularity of this feature aligns with feedback received from SMEs so far who are experiencing the time-saving benefits of the Xero payroll integration, by providing accounting and banking reconciliation as well as delegating user authorities for approvals i.e. accountants are able to process the payment in Xero and the business owner is then able to approve the payment in the Tyro app.
Robbie Cooke, CEO at Tyro, said, “We understand for some SMEs, cashflow is always crucial and getting access to funds is essential for everyday business, whether it is paying staff and invoices, using cash to run the business or investing back into the business. Flexible Same-Day Settlement gives Tyro merchants the ability to receive their funds daily, and the integration with Xero payroll increases efficiency, so SMEs can tailor their own cashflow and payments, reinvest into their business and run a smoother operation.”
Flexible Same-Day Settlement and Xero payroll are also integrated into the Tyro mobile app, giving Tyro customers full control of their banking in the palm of their hands. Merchants can track daily EFTPOS sales and see what is settling into their Tyro Smart Account. Using Xero payroll integration, they can also post pay runs directly from Xero without the need to download/upload an ABA file and approve them using the app – pay run transactions are then made from their Tyro Smart Account and fed back to Xero for reconciliation.
Tyro’s highly developed in-house engineering capability places it at the forefront of banking and payment innovation. As the only Australian bank completely dedicated to business banking, Tyro strongly supports SMEs by designing innovative products and a better experience for customers, so they can succeed. The company recently unveiled industry-first innovations such as the launch of its award-winning least-cost routing product, Tap & Save, a new deal that will see Tyro develop a one-stop point of sale (POS) and app integration for merchants, and a new agreement with Alipay that sees Tyro being the first Australian bank to integrate with Alipay. These initiatives demonstrate Tyro’s commitment to consistently updating its offerings to meet the needs of Australia’s SMEs.
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About Tyro
Tyro is an Australian bank and operates under the supervision of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
Tyro provides credit, debit and EFTPOS card acquiring, Medicare and private health fund claiming and rebating services, as well as an interest-bearing transaction and deposit account offering integration with Xero accounting software. Tyro takes money on deposit and offers unsecured cashflow-based lending to Tyro EFTPOS merchants.
Tyro currently serves more than 20,000 businesses with its own in-house, cloud-based mobile core banking platform.
For more information, visit tyro.com.
Media Contact
Christine Kardashian
Launch Group
02 9492 1000 | 0416 005 703
Businesses can now receive instant payments with Beem It for Business
by launch-admin Oct 30, 2018 0 News
Businesses can now receive instant payments with Beem It for Business
Instant transaction-free payments via Beem It set to be a game changer for small business operators
Sydney, Australia, 26 October 2018 – Instant payment app Beem It, today announced the launch of Beem It for Business, an innovative payment solution aimed at switched-on Australian micro and small businesses and savvy millennials with a side hustle, of which 1 in 3 have outside their normal job, according to triple j’s What’s Up In Your World survey[1].
A key pain point for the self-employed and independent contractors, as well as the 2.5 million casual workers in the booming gig economy[2], is the time it takes for them to access their funds. Beem It for Business facilitates instant payments for these operators using a smartphone and eliminates delays between financial institutions and cashless customers, with no set-up, subscription or transaction fees up to $10,000 per month.
Beem It for Business offers three ways to get paid:
1. Printable QR codes allow businesses to create a unique code that lets customers scan and pay for goods and services via their smartphone, eliminating the need for cash or cards.
2. Requests with customer payment reminders enable businesses to send their customers a request for payment including text message style prompts to those yet to pay, making it a practical solution for businesses that require upfront payment and for busy operators to keep track of who has / has not paid.
3. Unique business usernames allow businesses to get paid in person instantly via a unique username, without the need for sharing lengthy bank details that can result in non-payment due to errors when keying in BSB and account numbers.
Angela Clark, CEO of Beem It said, “Our goal is to make money moments better through innovative easy-to-use technology. Beem It for Business now means that anyone – whether you’re a barber, babysitter, tradie or market seller – can receive payments for goods and services instantly, regardless of who they bank with.
“We understand cashflow for micro and small businesses, especially for self-employed and independent contractors, is essential for their business operations as well as income and living expenses. Beem It for Business helps to ensure prompt payments without the added stress of asking, waiting or chasing money and we are excited to provide this simple solution so that small businesses can grow and prosper.”
Hair stylist Henry ‘Chris’ Bello set up The Groom’s Man Styling 18 months ago, having spotted a gap in the market for a roaming barber service. Henry credits Beem It for accelerating payments while on the go.
“The nature of my business means I see clients wherever I can take my tools, so I need my banking services to travel with me. Many of them are time-poor professionals who need a trim in between meetings so Beem It allows me to fast-track payments. They can just scan the QR code and go, or I can send them a request, and because payments are instant, it’s the same as having the cash in my pocket.”
Beem It launched in Australia in May 2018, with the mission of making money moments better.
For more information on Beem It for Business, please visit www.beemit.com.au/business
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About Beem It
The Beem It app is a free service and provides instant and P2P payments, processed direct to users bank accounts. The intuitive interface links to smartphone contacts allowing customers to send, request or split payments in a few taps, with no BSB, account details or PayID required.
Beem It is available to all Australians with a valid Mastercard or Visa Debit Card, regardless of who they bank with. Backed by three of Australia’s largest banks, users are supported by rigorous security, encryption, identity and fraud protection measures.
Users appreciate the simplicity and convenience of Beem It, which is one of the highest-ranked financial apps in both the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android, with more than a 4.5 star rating. Beem It has also recently released a printable QR code to make it easier for small businesses to accept Beem It payments.
The Beem It platform powers the growing feature set within the Beem It app experience and will also enable Beem It payment experiences to be embedded in other digital services to support future partnerships and services as part of Beem It’s vision to build an open Australian digital wallet.
Digital Wallet Pty Ltd (trading as Beem It) is a joint venture of National Australia Bank, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank.
For more information, please visit www.beemit.com.au.
Media Contact
Christine Kardashian
Launch Group
02 9492 1000 | 0416 005 703