Assembly Payments jumps in with JustCo

Australian fintech Assembly Payments is increasing its Melbourne footprint, teaming up with JustCo to launch its new headquarters.

Assembly Payments co-founder and co-CEO Simon Lee.

Australian fintech Assembly Payments is increasing its Melbourne footprint, teaming up with co-working business JustCo to launch its new headquarters.

Having outgrown its original digs in Collingwood, Assembly is moving to the CBD, operating in a designated area of JustCo’s William Street co-working space.

Assembly’s combined global headcount now sits at more than 130 and company co-founder and co-CEO Simon Lee said business was booming.

“There’s been an uptick in the payments space due to the rollout of the New Payment Platform (NPP) — we’re seeing demand from being a pioneer and a major player in this new space, as well as from businesses understanding the benefits of real-time payments over the NPP.”

He added that Melbourne continued to cement its place as a fintech hub.

“The city has set itself up as a fintech hub for the nation.

“There’s no shortage of excellent talent in Melbourne and we’ve found there to be no ­hesitation from staff interstate or overseas to move here either,” he said.

“While we have also grown our Sydney office over the past year, Melbourne is our cultural north star.”

While the co-working trend has come under fire in the wake of US giant WeWork’s botched IPO, Mr Lee said WeWork’s woes weren’t typical of the entire ­industry.

“Whether co-working is a good fit for a company is situ­ational,” he said. “For us, it just makes sense. It allows our staff to better collaborate and mix with a diverse environment, and it can potentially be a breeding ground for new opportunities.

“Co-working spaces take the hassle out of running an office so we can focus on further scaling the business, which will in turn scale our office size — meaning we can take up more space as we grow our team.”

JustCo’s vice-president and head of Australia, Sheree McIntyre, is also confident co-working is the future of work for larger businesses, including ASX-listed companies.

“We’re seeing the market shift from the traditional open-plan spaces largely affiliated with solo entrepreneurs and start-ups to customised enterprise solutions for larger businesses seeking a private office with all the associated benefits of a global co-working community,” she said.