Tim Demetriou pitching his business Pencil in a large theatre.

Pencil has cracked the final 10 for Startupbootcamp’s latest global fintech accelerator

May 21, 2019Media

Melbourne-based startup, Pencil, is the only Australian business that was selected to participate in Startupbootcamp’s next fintech accelerator. Pencil is an application management system that enables companies to easily submit credit applications digitally, with instant approvals.

Startupbootcamp received nearly 900 applicants from 59 countries worldwide for the program and the final 10 were selected from a shortlist of 20 businesses..

The program, backed by the likes of NAB, Bupa, Deloitte, Capgemini, DiUS and Amazon Web Service, will kick off on June 3, climaxing with a Demo Day on August 29.

Each company receives free co-working space at Startupbootcamp’s Melbourne CBD offices, $25,000 for living expenses, more than $1 million worth of partner deals, including support from DiUS, KHQ Lawyers and Pitcher Partner.

Startupbootcamp FinTech Australia MD Brian Collins said it was exciting to have an Australian startup in the top 10 from among 900 global applications.

“Pencil is changing the way that smaller businesses interact with their vendors and its founders, Tim and Greg, are seasoned entrepreneurs who have a track record of building successful businesses here in Australia.”

“Collectively, these 10 startups have the ability to make a real impact on the Australian financial industry at large.”

Startupbootcamp Australia has accelerated 20 startups since 2018, raising a combined total of AU$61.3 M, creating 44 jobs and working with local business partners on 25 POCs.

The 10 startups selected for the FinTech Accelerator program are:

ZScore Technologies: an AI-powered platform that enables organisations to understand and extract value from their data through advanced data profiling.

Emotics: a RegTech company that analyses user engagement with online compliance training, using a suite of analytics, including facial recognition and facial micro-expression analysis.

ChintaMoney: a mobile app that digitises Jam Jar budgeting, which allows users to split their income into different categories (bills, travel, savings, etc) for better financial health.

InsureVite: a NLP chatbot that includes advanced features, like smart contracts and optical image processing, for applications in industries like insurance, banking, e-commerce, and airlines.

TradingValley: a wealth management solution powered by machine learning that helps users build the right investment portfolio to suit their life needs.

InfoVera: an online marketplace that gives business owners an industry benchmark score and recommendations to increase the value of their company.

Youthful Savings: a learning marketplace that empowers the next generation with the tools of financial education and entrepreneurship necessary to thrive.

Pencil: an application management system that allows businesses to easily submit credit applications digitally by auto collating an accurate ASIC-verified business record for immediate approvals.

ZigWay: a mobile app that helps low income families access nano loans of less than $200 quickly and cheaply.

Fractal: an API suite that provides a data aggregation and intelligence platform where banks and other financial institutions can provide value adding services to SMEs

Startupbootcamp is one of the biggest fintech innovation networks in the world,
operating programs around the globe in more than 10 cities.