H2 Ventures

H2 Ventures is a fintech, data and artificial intelligence focused venture capital investment firm based in Sydney, Australia. It runs the H2 Startup Accelerator.[1] H2 Ventures is located in the NSW Government backed Sydney Startup Hub.[2]

H2 Ventures
IndustryFinancial services
Founded2014
Founders
  • Toby Heap
  • Ben Heap
Headquarters
Sydney
,
Australia
Area served
Australia
Websitewww.h2.vc

History

The H2 Ventures Accelerator was founded as the AWI Ventures Accelerator which was launched by the then Australian Federal Government Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull on 13 March 2014.[3][4] It ran its first intake from June to November 2014 and a second intake from January to June 2015.[5][6] In 2015, brothers Ben Heap and Dr Toby Heap left AWI to establish H2 Ventures and ran the third intake of the accelerator from February to July 2016.[7][8][9]

In December 2015, First State Super and H2 Ventures announced they had entered into an investment partnership to invest in fintech start-up companies. The launch of the First State Super-H2 partnership was officiated by the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and was attended by the Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison, Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer, Assistant Innovation Minister Wyatt Roy and NSW Minister for Industry, Anthony Roberts.[10][11]

In March 2016, Investec Australia announced an investment in H2 Ventures, enabling the expansion of the H2 Accelerator. The amount of the Investec investment was not disclosed, however, the head of principal investing at Investec Australia, David Phillips, joined the board of H2.[12][13][14][15]

In January 2017, the NSW Government and Investec provided a $4 million funding facility for the H2 Accelerator.[16][17][18][19] With this funding, H2 Ventures announced that it would expand its fintech accelerator to include startups with a focus on data and artificial intelligence.[20] The H2 Accelerator ran its fourth and fifth intakes in February and August 2017.[21][22][23]

Fintech100

H2 Ventures publishes an annual report of leading global fintech innovators titled ‘Fintech100’. The Fintech100 includes a list of the top 50 established fintech companies from around the world, and 50 emerging fintechs.[24][25][26] Three Chinese firms, Ant Financial, ZhongAn and Qudian took the top three rankings in the 2017 Fintech100.[27][28]

References
  1. "H2 Ventures eyes global expansion and data and AI start-ups after fresh intake". Australian Financial Review. 28 August 2017.
  2. "The NSW government just backed a massive $35 million startup hub in downtown Sydney". Business Insider. 13 July 2017.
  3. "Malcolm Turnbull launches $1 million dollar startup competition for financial services". Startup Daily. 13 March 2014.
  4. "Accelerator program for financial tech start-ups launches in Sydney". Smart Company. 14 March 2014.
  5. "AWI Ventures announces four startups chosen to participate in its accelerator program". Smart Company. 8 July 2014.
  6. "Meet five fintech start-ups seeking to disrupt banking". Australian Financial Review. 25 May 2015.
  7. "H2 Ventures, born from AWI's ashes, will fund 100 fintech firms". Sydney Morning Herald. 25 May 2015.
  8. "Fintch startups get a head start". Money Management. 27 May 2015.
  9. "H2 Ventures announces third intake of its fintech accelerator program". Startup Daily. 5 May 2016.
  10. "First State Super to invest in fintech start-ups". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 December 2015.
  11. "Remarks and Q&A at H2 Ventures". Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. 8 December 2015.
  12. "Investec buys into H2 Ventures". Sydney Morning Herald. 1 March 2016.
  13. "H2 expands with Investec backing". Financial Observer. 2 March 2016.
  14. "Investec Australia buys stake in fintech accelerator H2 Ventures". Deal Street Asia. 3 March 2016.
  15. "International bank backs Aussie startups in another "important endorsement" for the sector". Smart Company. 2 March 2016.
  16. "Investec funding for H2's fintech accelerator backed by NSW government". Australian Financial Review. 12 January 2017.
  17. "NSW government pins fintech job hopes to H2 Ventures". Financial Standard. 13 January 2017.
  18. "NSW support for H2 Ventures to create up to 40 new fintech startups and 400 jobs". Australian Anthill. 17 January 2017.
  19. "Jobs for NSW backs fintech accelerator". Computer World. 13 January 2017.
  20. "H2 Ventures is looking for artificial intelligence startups". Business Insider. 15 May 2017.
  21. "Sydney's H2 accelerator just backed seven new fintech startups". Business Insider. 21 March 2017.
  22. "H2 Ventures announces new startups following fresh funding". Australian Financial Review. 20 March 2017.
  23. "H2 Ventures eyes global expansion and data and AI start-ups after fresh intake". Australian Financial Review. 28 August 2017.
  24. "China challenges London's fintech lead". Financial Times. 24 October 2016.
  25. "7 Australian fintech start-ups have been named among the world's 50 emerging stars on the Fintech 100 list". 18 December 2015.
  26. "Insurance and Chinese fintechs dominate 2015: KPMG". ZDNet. 14 December 2015.
  27. "10 Australian startups just made the global Fintech100". 16 November 2017.
  28. "Global top 10 fintech firms in 2017". 14 December 2017.
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