Zeller co-founder Ben Pfisterer says VC funds are ready to invest in Aussie start-ups

The head of Zeller – the fastest Aussie start-up to achieve unicorn status – will speak at the _SOUTHSTART conference in Adelaide this week. Here’s his story.

Zeller chief executive Ben Pfisterer.

While the heady days of free-flowing venture capital funding are a distant memory, fintech entrepreneur Ben Pfisterer says local investors are flush with funds and ready to deploy on one of the most exciting cohorts of Australian start-ups to emerge since the pandemic.

The co-founder and chief executive of payments start-up Zeller acknowledges that it’s been a difficult fundraising environment for start-ups over the last few years, but says that’s forced entrepreneurs to sharpen their focus and adopt a more disciplined approach to spending.

Zeller became the fastest Australian start-up to achieve unicorn status when, towards the end of the venture capital boom in early 2022, it raised $100m at a $1bn valuation.

The company had earlier raised $81m in pre-launch funding before the first product was offered to customers in May 2021.

The company produces payment terminals that compete with the likes of Square and Stripe but differentiates itself by offering an all-in-one solution – including debit cards and account services.

Despite the significant costs that come with an ambitious plan to take on the big four banks and global payments players, Zeller has not had to tap investors since that bumper raise of 2022.

But for those who are seeking capital, Mr Pfisterer says there’s strong appetite from local venture capital funds.

“There’s no doubt that the fundraising market over the last couple of years has dramatically changed. But that said, in Australia, there is huge reserves of capital sitting with some of the best VCs in Australia, who are often the best in the world,” he said.

“I wouldn’t be put off by the narrative that’s around the eco-system about fundraising. If you’ve got a great idea, you know how to pitch it, you know how to convey that message and that value proposition, you’ll do very well. There’s still a lot of opportunity in the Australian market. The funding sources in Australia are alive and well.”

The latest figures compiled by Cut Through Venture and Folklore Venture reveal that Australian technology start-ups received $4bn of venture capital funding in 2024, up 11 per cent on the $3.6bn in 2023.

However, the figure is still well below the $10.1bn raised by start-ups in the 2021 boom.

Mr Pfisterer says in the current environment, there is no room for founders to be complacent or reckless with their spending.

“There’s no doubt that over those low interest (rate) environment years during Covid, there was probably a lot of bad practice which was allowed to prosper too much in terms of not being as responsible and prudent with capital as you could be,” he said.

“But I think all the basics about running a successful business – it’s just going to come to the fore again, where you have to be responsible, you have to scale at the right time, you have to know what you’re spending your money on, you have to be careful with your cash reserves – back to the basics of building great businesses.

“All those basics ... got a little bit hazy, a little bit lost during those years, but I think now has been a great time to sharpen the focus on that. I think we’ll actually see a massive growth in start-ups, which are now getting started under those new sort of conditions, which will come out absolutely strong in the future years.”

Mr Pfisterer will be among the speakers at this week’s _SOUTHSTART start-up conference, a three-day event that kicks off in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Other speakers will include Go1 and Black Sky Industries co-founder Vu Tran, Main Sequence partner Phil Morle and Up bank co-founder Dom Pym.

Mr Zeller established and ran the Australian business of US payments company Square for several years before teaming up with Dominic Yap, David Conn and Alfred Wong on the idea of launching a new payments product in 2020.

Zeller launched its first product in May 2021, and has gone on to sign up around 85,000 business customers, including Domino’s, Gelatissimo and Magill Estate.

Earlier this month the company launched a new digital banking product specifically designed for start-ups, and Mr Pfisterer says plans for an international expansion are well advanced.

“We’re growing faster than we ever have – last year we grew by 100 to 200 per cent in every top line metric,” he said.

“It’s just shown that there was a big gap in the market, and Aussie businesses wanted alternatives to the outdated and generic business banking and payments solutions that were there.

“We do have very ambitious plans. We do plan to obtain more breath in our product suite in the Australian market and ... we’re getting pretty close to the point where we’ll look to move forward on the international expansion, which is probably the biggest and one of the most exciting things we’ll look at doing in the new term.”

Originally published as Zeller co-founder Ben Pfisterer says VC funds are ready to invest in Aussie start-ups