Austrade’s NYC accelerator for Aussie fintechs with an empire state of mind

It was golden hour across the New York skyline. Dozens of floors up in a building on 3rd Avenue, the waning sun set the room ablaze as smartly-dressed people mingled, clinked glasses and hoped to make life-changing connections.

Up here it felt like anything was possible. Regardless of where you started, you were now staring down at one of the great epicentres for business and dream-making. Maybe you could even make the sprawling city below yours someday. It was truly the perfect backdrop for the Aussie fintechs standing in front of those gleaming windows, pitching for their future.

Image: Tegan Jones

This event is the Scale-Up Demo Day, a collaboration between the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) and WEVE, an accelerator that specialises in international startups that are expanding into the US market.