Australia’s Tyro Payments Snaps Up $72M

Tyro Payments has just landed $72 million in new funding from Tiger Global, TDM Asset Management and Atlassian Cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes to continue its quest to disrupt traditional banking down under.

Tyro specializes in debit and credit payments and currently processes POS payments for 14,000 Australian businesses worth around $5.8 billion a year. Going forward, Tyro is looking to become the first Australian FinTech firm to receive a banking license from the nation’s regulatory body.

Among Tryo’s main competitors are the nation’s top four retail banks: Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and National Australia Bank.

“They totally dominate the Australian market and are the most profitable banks in the world,” said Tyro Payments Chief Executive Officer Jost Stollmann. “We consider ourself a friend of financial tech startups and new growth companies that want to challenge this oligopoly.”

Stollman further notes that banks are trapped in dated processes when it comes to the services they offer, which makes working with said banks unduly time-consuming for patrons.

The new funds will go toward increasing the firm’s engineering staff primarily, with a proposed headcount expansion from 150 to 450. Closing out the year, Tyro reports revenue growth of 38 percent to $72.4 million, representing a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent averaged over five years.