With about 800 independently owned fintech companies, Australia boasts a large, diverse, and advanced fintech market.

However, this market has faced significant challenges over the past year, including the limited size of the local market, the difficult capital raising environment, especially for early-stage startups, and growth-stage scaleups, as well as lack of viable exit opportunities.

But despite the headwinds, a handful of players has emerged to rise above the noise, and continued to innovate, grow their user bases, and attract prominent investors. These ventures have successfully launched new products, expanded overseas, or secured significant backing, making them worth watching closely in the coming year.

Fintech Startups from Australia to Have on Your Radar in 2026

Fat Zebra

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Sydney, Fat Zebra provides online payment processing solutions to businesses. The company offers a modern payments platform used by businesses of all sizes to accept and manage digital transactions.

This platform supports local payment processing in 40 countries, partner acquiring in over 100 nations, and settlement in more than 20 currencies. It includes features including real‑time fraud detection, multi‑currency support, and API integrations for developers.

Fat Zebra currently processes over 250 million transactions annually for more than 30,000 merchants and claims high-profile clients like PayPal, Macquarie Bank, Zip, and Sportsbet, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing payment providers from Australia.

These past years, Fat Zebra has focused on its aggressive acquisition strategy. In April 2025, the company acquired SecurePay from Australia Post, marking its third acquisition in just 14 months. This followed the purchases of Adatree, a specialist in customer data portability, and Pin Payments, a provider of embedded payments for small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs).

SecurePay brought a 20-year track record and a customer base of over 35,000 businesses to the group. This integration allowed Fat Zebra to broaden its merchant base, enhance its technology infrastructure, and provide a more comprehensive suite of payment solutions, spanning enterprise, platform, and SME segments.

WeMoney

Founded in 2020 and based in Perth, WeMoney is a smart money management app. The platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR) to connect users’ financial accounts to offer a unified view of their financial health.

The app aims to help people manage earnings by using AI to detect their spending patterns, help them budget, track their progress, and make suggestions on where to save cash. It distinguishes itself through its proprietary BrightMatch platform, which simplifies the process of comparing and switching financial services such as loans, credit cards, and utilities. WeMoney claims it helps users save an average of AUD 333 (US$229) per month by switching to better financial products and streamlining subscriptions.

Since its launch in late 2020, WeMoney has achieved over 1.35 million downloads and maintains 80,000 monthly active users. In April 2025, the company secured AUD 12 million (US$8.3 million) in a Series A funding round, giving it a valuation of AUD 100 million (US$69 million).

WeMoney said it would use the proceeds for research and development (R&D) and to scale its BrightMatch platform with more partners. The company is also planning a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and is actively expanding its local footprint with 50 new job roles to be created over the next three years across data science, AI development and product design, focusing specifically on hiring early-career professionals.

Swyftx

Founded in 2018, Swyftx is a leading cryptocurrency exchange in Australia and New Zealand that aims to address common industry shortcomings in the industry, including the lack of customer service, dated user interfaces, poor education practices and high fees.

The platform allows users to buy, sell, and trade hundreds of digital assets directly with AUD or NZD, focusing on simplicity and accessibility. It comes with features including demo trading, auto‑invest, crypto bundles, and strong security measures including AUSTRAC registration and ISO 27001 certification.

Swyftx supports over 1.5 million retail, business and self-managed super fund (SMSF) customers across Australia and New Zealand. Over the past years, it has solidified its market position through a series of acquisitions.

In July 2025, Swyftx announced its acquisition of Caleb & Brown, a boutique digital asset brokerage founded in 2016 that specializes in personalized one-to-one services for private investors in the US, and which manages over US$2 billion in digital assets. The acquisition, valued at over AUD 100 million (US$65.8 million), allows Swyftx to expand its footprint significantly into the North American market while maintaining Caleb & Brown’s brand temporarily during integration. It followed Swyftx’s earlier acquisition of New Zealand’s largest crypto exchange, Easy Crypto, positioning Swyftx as a significant competitor in the global crypto landscape.

Block Earner

Founded in 2021, Block Earner is an Australian crypto platform that allows users to buy, sell, and manage more than 350 digital assets, while also offering fast crypto‑backed loans in AUD. The platform enables individuals, businesses, and SMSFs to borrow between AUD 50 (US$34) and AUD 5 million (US$3.4 million), using cryptocurrencies as collateral, and with options for fixed interest rates and flexible repayment terms to maintain exposure to crypto price movements. Approvals are often completed within 24 hours. Block Earner also provides access to decentralized finance (DeFi) products, and advanced trading features.

In July 2025, Block Earner launched what it claims to be Australia’s first Bitcoin-backed home loan product, offering up to 50% of a property’s value as a deposit loan secured against the borrower’s Bitcoin. The cryptocurrencies are held in custody with Fireblocks, a digital asset security platform. Repayments can be made in either cash or crypto, and borrowers can exit early without incurring a penalty.

Block Earner has demonstrated significant growth and industry recognition, raising a total of AUD 15 million in funding, including a AUD 8 million (US$5.5 million) Series A in August 2025 to support its growth in Australia and early-stage expansion into international markets, and introduce new crypto-backed products.

In December 2025, Block Earner won three gold awards at the 2025 Finder Innovation Awards. Its Block Earner’s Crypto-Backed Line of Credit picked up gold in the Digital Assets and Web3, Most Innovative Team and Tech Innovation categories, plus a finalist spot for Lending Innovation.

Block Earner is a startup worth following in the Australian fintech landscape not only for its innovative product suite, but also because of its pivotal role in shaping the country’s crypto regulatory landscape.

Since 2022, the company has been involved in a high-profile legal battle with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), alleging the provision of unlicensed financial services. As of March 2026, the case remains unresolved and is considered critical for the industry as the outcome will determine whether crypto yield and lending products are considered regulated financial services in Australia.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Australia, based on image by anankkml via Freepik