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In Australia right now, we're entering a new evolution in the fintech space.
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It's vibrant, it's innovative, it's disruptive and we're seeing so many Australian
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fintech's make an impact on the global stage.
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I came over to Australia in November 2019,
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I was already starting to work on a new idea with my co-founder in terms of
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building an SME challenge bank. We were looking at
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different locations. As I spent more time here and I got to
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meet more people within the ecosystem, I realised what an amazing opportunity
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Australia actually had.
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When it comes to support from government, I've seen
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a range of initiatives, from commercialisation grants,
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to research and development tax incentives.
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I've also seen direct approaches from the government to the fintech community
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in asking "how else can we help you? What else would make a difference?"
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When I landed here, I actually contacted the Global Talent
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visa program, which gave me a fast track route into
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permanent residency.
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We were also fortunate enough to win the MVP grant which is helping us build our initial platform.
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Honestly it's impossible to find coffee like this anywhere else in the world.
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There's a great pool of talent over here.
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It's incredibly tight-knit and when I actually landed
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I didn't know anybody. But I was able to message 
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individuals on LinkedIn and they're immediately there, available to help us,
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in terms of understanding where to access the government grants or
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which VCs to go speak to. We have people with very deep skills
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in technology, in data, in marketing, in digital propositions, so you're never
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really in it alone. You can  
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reach out to anyone and if they can help you they will.
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With open banking now just emerging, it's an incredibly exciting opportunity.
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Although the UK was the first in the globe to put this regulation out into the open
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market, the benefit that Australia has had is
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being able to see some of the limitations.
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So with consumer data rights over here, you know CDR,
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it doesn't just mandate specifically banking data, but it's actually
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all utility data. Which is a far more exciting opportunity
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for new technology players such as us, that actually depend on that data.
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Australia is a great market to test new digital propositions.
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We have such a diverse population, that if you're looking for
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a test market that closely represents pretty much
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most other markets around the world,
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you'll find that validation here in Australia.
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Living and working in Australia is incredible. I wake up every
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day and I have to pinch myself because I
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get to go out for a swim or a surf before I
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then roll 20 other yards into my office.
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In many ways Australia is hidden from the rest of the world,
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but it's actually a place where you don't have to hide who you are
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or the things that you love - you can just be yourself.
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Without shadow of doubt, you've got all of the core ingredients to build a
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world-beating start-up right here on these shores.