Spotcap announces first fintech scholarship as Australia experiences fintech boom

The SME lender has exported its fellowship down under after rapid fintech growth.

Small business lender Spotcap has today announced the winner of its first fintech scholarship in Australia, after booting up the scheme abroad due to Australia’s recent boom in the sector.

Billed as the first of its kind in Australia, the scholarship awards one aspiring graduate with an interest in fintech $10,000 towards their tuition costs. The 2017 Spotcap Fintech Scholarship has been awarded to Vishal Uppal, a current Finance and Computer Science student at the University of Sydney.

Fintech is now considered to be one of Australia’s fastest growing industries, as the number of fintech firms operating in the country increased by almost 500 per cent between 2014 and 2017. According to Spotcap, attracting new talent is one of the most significant challenges faced by Australian fintechs, with 52 per cent of fintech leaders agreeing there is a lack of experienced start-up and fintech talent in the region.

“We need to ensure that fintech has a healthy talent pipeline here in Australia,” said Lachlan Heussler, Managing Director of Spotcap Australia and New Zealand.

“Vishal’s dedication to his studies and passion for the intersection of technology and finance, make him the perfect recipient of this scholarship. He embodies the confidence, skills and talent that the industry needs to grow, we are proud to support him.”

The scholarship program aims to promote awareness of fintech among students, and to encourage young Australians to value the influence of technology in remodelling the future of the financial services industry. Spotcap will continue to raise awareness of fintech and the opportunities it presents for both individuals and communities and will open its 2018 Fintech Scholarship later in the year.

“I believe the most important challenge fintech will face is a social one,” said Vishal Uppal, winner of the 2017 Spotcap Fintech Fellowship.

“My aim is to build solutions that address these issues by embracing design philosophy with the next wave of advancements in cognitive technology.”