Australian Fintech and Startups
Plenti (formerly RateSetter) has originated over $1bn in loans. Link
Raiz hit $1bn FUM. Link
The NPP threatened ‘Controlabill’ with court action. My take: the NPP’s latest technology is called ‘PayTo’, which is similar to PayID, but for recurring payments (ok, it’s a lot more than that). Controlabill did the same thing for direct debits. Now Controlabill is annoyed at the NPP. Link
Airwallex’s valuation hit $2bn. Link
Given the billions this week, how’s this for a reference - A million seconds is 11 days. A billion seconds is 32 years. Exponentials are a helluva drug.
Big Tech
EV company ‘Rivian’ had a wildly successful IPO in the US - they are pretty much the EV version of an F-Series. Get this: they have a $125bn market cap and not a single $ of revenue. Link
COVID has forced QR codes to be ‘the new normal’ and has resulted in the uptake of a *relatively* new technology on a scale never seen before. See below the image from Roy Morgan on a normalised technology adoption scale:
QR didn’t allow for anyone to be a ‘laggard’, nor an ‘early adopter’. Its adoption was mandated due to the COVID pandemic. There’s never been such a seismic shift in a piece of technology, especially one that interfaces the physical world with the digital (sorry, Zuck + Meta).
Contrast this with an view of technology adoption in the USA over time (excuse the spelling of airplane):
QR, although an interface over infrastructure, would probably hit close to 95% on the Y axis above, and only scrape the X axis. See below for my rudimentary adaption of the above graph:
And think about how we would have contact traced ten years ago? There are so many applications of QR that we haven’t even begun to capture:
Upscale London restaurants, via QR, had their tips increase on average from £300 to £3,000 per week, increased guest turnover due to not waiting for a bill, and reduced operational costs of staff (iSommelier comes to mind). Link
…hence why Australian QR code ordering system ‘Mr Yum’ is raising a ~$80m Series A and has processed nearly $500m in Gross Transaction Value (GTV). Bon Appétit. Link
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Jimmy’s Notes
Not much to add aside from the fact that this skit is still the funniest thing I think I have ever seen:
These opinions are mine and not reflective of my employer :)
Trivia
(a) What garment literally means “thing to wear” in Japanese?
(b) I’m going to give you dictionary definitions of words that appear in the song Bohemian Rhapsody. Name the words. A fallen angel in Milton’s Paradise Lost. An Italian astronomer. The name of the Barber of Seville. A clown character common in 16th century theatre. A lively Spanish dance.
( c) What line is the following Shakespearan play from? “So excellent a king; that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother. That he might not beteem the winds of heaven.”
(d) I want you to put one word inside of another word to create a combined word. The outside word is a piece of golf equipment. The inside word is an adjective that indicates something is not operating. The combined word is a six letter word for a sweet confection. What is the combined word?
And for bonus points - (c i) what is a Hyperion? (c ii) What is a satyr?
(e) The Steppenwolf song Born To Be Wild is believed to be the first song to mention what style of music in its lyrics?
(f) What three letter word was chosen as the word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary?
Trivia Answers
(a) Kimono
(b) Beelzebub, Galileo, Figaro, Scaramouche, Fandango (great scrabble words)
(c ) Hamlet (the best play ever written IMO). A Greek Titan (God accepted) (b) A man with goat ears / characteristics
(d) Toffee (tee / off)
(e) Heavy metal thunder
(f) vax