Finnies finalists announced

A total of 89 companies and individuals have been chosen as finalists for Australias only industry-backed fintech awards, from a record field of more than 200 entries.FinTech Australia today announced the finalists for the 2018 Finnie awards.While the entries were all of a very high quality, the finalists showcase the best of Australias fintech industry and some amazing individual and company achievements, said FinTech Australia chair Stuart Stoyan.Each of these finalists is now in the running to be named a winner in 23 Finnie award categories at our gala awards ceremony on 13 June in Sydney.The fact we received 223 award entries - a 40 per cent increase from the 158 entries in 2017 - is in itself a sign of the growing stature of Australias fintech industry.The finalists were assessed by 81 domestic and international judges.There are eight finalists for the Female FinTech Leader of the Year award. These finalists are:

• Emily Martin - CEO of ethical investment fintech Balance Impact
• Julia Bearzatto - Head of Technology & Tribe Leader at payments fintech Assembly Payments
• Lucy Liu - Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer of foreign exchange market making and cross border payment company Airwallex
• Marie Mortimer - Managing Director of loans.com.au
• Sophie Gerber - Co-founder and director of Australian regulatory technology business TRAction
• Katrina Donaghy - CEO of smart contract and blockchain technology company Civic Ledger
• Katryna Dow - CEO of award winning personal data platform Meeco
• Judy Sahay - Founder of creative social media agency Crowd Media

Highlighting and celebrating female leaders in our industry is just one way we can boost the number of women in fintech and therefore drive a more diverse and inclusive workforce and help meet skills shortages, Mr Stoyan said.Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business John Barilaro said he was excited to see 55 out of 89 finalists - nearly two thirds - were from NSW including four out of the eight finalists for the Female FinTech Leader of the Year award.This is a great result for NSWs fintech sector and I wish all finalists the best of luck. The NSW Government through Jobs for NSW is the Finnies presenting partner as part of our efforts to grow the startup sector to create jobs and businesses for the future.Jobs for NSW has so far invested over $800,000 to help about 30 fintech startups grow. Our state has 54 per cent of Australias fintechs which are creating exciting opportunities in financial services, a sector with exports worth $2.9 billion and growing at over nine per cent a year.FinTech Australia has chosen to use Humanitix as its ticket-selling platform for the Finnies gala awards ceremony. Humanitix is a social enterprise ticketing platform which donates all profits to a partner charity chosen by the event organiser.FinTech Australias chosen charity is Graamen Australia, which helps the worlds poorest, especially women, gain access to financial services, life changing information and unique business opportunities.The Finalists can be viewed here or at this Business Insider story.