Australian fintech company Airwallex is launching a program for local startups to boost their growth, with grants and perks on offer.
Airwallex, which was last valued at US$5.5 billion (AU$8.3 billion), announced the initiative at Blackbird’s Sunrise Festival today (May 1st), claiming it would be the most comprehensive program for startups seeking to accelerate growth.
The initiative includes practical resources, networking and content opportunities, and the opportunity to win a $10,000 Business Acceleration Grant. For the first six months, startups will also have access to $50,000 worth of payments acceptance fee waiver to onboard customers; $50,000 worth of free FX for their next capital raise; and free employee cards for co-founders.
The Airwallex for Startups program is free and open to registered businesses with 2 to 100 employees.
“Airwallex for Startups has been designed to unlock growth opportunities for tomorrow’s unicorns,” Airwallex VP SME & Growth, Matthew Sek, said.
“Whether it’s connecting them with mentors, VCs or partners, giving them a $50k payment acceptance fee waiver to onboard their first customers, or sharing templates and tools to simplify their finance function, this is the go-to program for ambitious startups.”
According to the annual State of Australian Startup Funding report, $3.5 billion was invested into Australian startups across 413 deals in the last financial year. And, Australia’s producing 1.7 unicorns per US$1 billion worth of venture capital investments – that’s twice as much as the UK, Singapore and India, and 60% more than the US.
“As a homegrown startup turned global fintech, we have an important role to play in supporting Australian startups as they navigate the opportunities and challenges of growing a business,” Sek said.
“Mastering your financial foundations is essential to any business’ success. We will bring together the experts – including established founders and finance leaders – to share practical guidance so you can do exactly that.”
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