Image via Fintechnews Singapore
Last updated
Thunes: Geographic Expansion
Thunes expanded its cross-border payments network to New Zealand, launching real-time pay-to-bank transfers for NZD transactions
Source: Fintechnews Singapore
The leadership read
Thunes's expansion resets where the leadership need sits in Fintech. Standing up a new market rewards operators with local networks and a record of building from scratch. The 12-to-18-month read across Oceania favours country and commercial leadership hired close to the ground.
Market context: Backdrop: a 104.6 (Hot) Talent Market Index (down 1.9 on the month) with Oceania activity steady (+1.1pts).
Thunes: 3 signals in the last 90 days — above the Fintech median of 1 across 85 tracked companies; 0.3% of MitchelLake's Asia signal flow; 5 tracked across 84 days.
Market entry — the MitchelLake playbook
When a company expands into a new market, the first leadership hires decide whether it lands. A selection of market entries we've run:
Market entry · Oceania
Square
Executive Search Fintech
Market entry
Dropbox
Executive Search for SaaS
Market entry · Asia
Deliveroo
Executive Search in ASEAN
Market entry · Oceania
SurveyMonkey
Managing Director APAC (first hire in region) / Country Manager
Market entry · Asia
LivePerson
Director ASEAN (first hire in region); also Head of Presales APAC
Market entry · Oceania
Etsy
Managing Director, Australia + Asia (MD APAC)
MitchelLake in this thematic
From the MitchelLake archive
Also at Thunes →
More signals across Fintech
Partnership · Oceania
FIS →FIS joins Anthropic's Project Glasswing to deploy Mythos 5 AI model for defensive cybersecurity across its foundational financial infrastructure systems
Partnership · Oceania
Firmus Technologies →Firmus signed a 12-year, 600MW power supply agreement with commodities trader Gunvor to develop AI factories across regional Australia, and secured a 200MW, 800-megawatt-hour battery deal for Koolunga
Product Launch · Oceania
SumUp →SumUp launched a consumer account product that pays users to shop at small businesses, combining financial services with merchant incentivization.
Product Launch · Oceania
Grey →Grey (Nigerian fintech) launched stablecoin payment channel that has become its largest cross-border payment volume channel, processing $61.4M in 4 months
Partnership · Oceania
Finastra →Finastra convened banking leaders in Sydney for AI and platform modernization summit, emphasizing ecosystem collaboration, AI integration, cloud-native technologies, and open APIs across payments and lending
Product Launch · Oceania
FPT →FPT launched Flezi Foundry™, an AI-augmented delivery platform for software development and IT operations targeting global enterprises
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