Cashrewards named Deloitte’s Fast 50 winner

Internet Retailing

24th Nov 2016

Cashrewards has been named the overall winner of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 program in Australia.

The program, now in its 16th year in Australia, ranks fast growing technology companies based on percentage revenue growth over three years. Applicants must accumulate more than $8 million in revenue over a three year period to qualify. Winners are recognised as being forward thinking, innovative technology companies.

The program is open to businesses in various sectors, including communications, internet, software, hardware, life sciences and healthcare, media and clean energy.

This year, 38 per cent of the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 winners are online businesses, which notably include marketplaces and business models in the financial services and health sectors, according to Deloitte Australia’s technology, media and telecommunications leader Stuart Johnson.

A further 26 per cent of winners are from fast growing networking and communications technology companies supporting the shift of business to the cloud, with the balance evenly spread across software and digital marketing technology businesses.

The top growth performer this year, Cashrewards, is in the online shopping sector. The site offers their 150,000 members access to retailers’ online stores through the Cashrewards website and then returns a percentage of the purchase price to the customer in the form of a cashback.

“Cashrewards has swept away the nearest competition by securing a phenomenal 12,469 per cent growth over that three year period: a figure significantly above the average of 731 per cent, the highest result since 2004, and the second highest result since the Awards started in 2001,”  Joshua Tanchel, Deloitte Tech Fast 50 lead partner, said.

This is indicative of the way businesses will earn income in the future, according to John Meacock, Deloitte Australia’s chief strategy officer.

“Many businesses, like our 2016 Deloitte Tech Fast 50 winners, are focused on a long term vision enhanced by customer engagement and sound business data, supported by the latest technology. They have recognised that businesses will earn income in a very different way in the future and are at the front edge of business transformation.

“Revenue from subscriptions, data and advertising will grow for many online companies this year, which has been the case for new businesses like Google or Facebook. Network effects have changed a lot of the ways we think about revenue, income and evaluation of businesses,” he said.

The top five 2016 Tech Fast 50 winners are:

• Cashrewards: Cashrewards offers members a cheaper way to shop in Australia through the use of cashbacks, calculated as a percentage of the purchase price. The company has reached 150,000 members through organic growth, but expects to accelerate its growth to a target of 2 million members by the end of 2018. Offering savings on well-known brands from over 1,000 retail alliances is of course proving to be well received by members, resulting in around $210m of all Australian online retail spend originating from the company in FY16.  In addition, proprietary technology tracks members’ clicks, spending, and target communications based on previous spending and interests: this data then forms the basis of their FY17 advertising rate card. (12,469 per cent growth over three years)
• MoneyMe Financial Group Pty Ltd: MoneyMe Financial Group (MFG) is a diversified mass market direct lending fintech, using technology to revolutionise consumer lending to the millennial market in Australia. It was set up to disrupt the payday lending market in Australia through the use of a proprietary tech platform called “Horizon”, a cloud-based database with a loan management/lending platform that includes customer relationship and payment management capabilities. The system enables automatic approval and funding of loans, and was the first to introduce risk-based pricing and to reward borrowers for positive repayment behaviour generating cost savings from lower default rates. (2,811 per cent growth)
• OpenMarkets Australia Limited: OpenMarkets is Australia’s fastest growing stockbroker, consistently ranking in the Top 15 brokers in Australia by trading volume in less than three years. Independently-owned, innovation-driven and technology-focused, OpenMarkets positions itself as a ‘fintech’ stockbroker specialising in brokerage integration with third parties. (2,778 per cent growth)
• Tech Mpire Limited: Tech Mpire is a digital performance marketing company helping advertisers communicate with their target audiences based on extensive proprietary technology. (2,723 per cent growth)
• HUB24 Limited: HUB24’s investment and superannuation platform offers a comprehensive range of investment options, including administration, transaction and reporting solutions. The company utilises state-of-the art technology to deliver a fully integrated service that helps track and better manage investment and superannuation assets. (1,248 per cent growth)

Tanchel believes that in terms of emerging opportunities in other industries, there is a developing trend of new businesses focused on PropTech like Tech Fast 50 winner Open Agent, both from a commercial and residential point of view. “Tourism, hospitality and education are also undercooked and waiting to be disrupted,” he said.

Changes in the way Australians are using data continues to disrupt. “Australia is going to continue to see the topic of big data explored, but we’re also going to see the rise of small data, as we see the convergence of both mobile and the Internet of Things occur over the next five to ten years,” Tachel said. “Our demand for software also remains strong: Australian consumers want apps, browsers and software that can enrich our life experience and platforms that entertain us more.”