Swyftx founders named Young Entrepreneurs of the Year

The founders of crypto trading platform Swyftx, Alex Harper and Angus Goldman, were named the 2022 Brisbane Young Entrepreneurs of the Year last night, notching up yet another achievement to add to their already stellar year.

For the duo, securing the title comes just one year after they won the Trailblazer Award at the 2021 edition of the initiative in both Brisbane and national ceremonies.

It also comes just months after the pair - who also won the Finance Award last night - announced a $1.5 billion merger with share trading app Superhero, creating a major Australian trading platform in the process that scratches the many itches of retail investors nationwide.

Harper and Goldman won the Awards at the 2022 Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards Gala Dinner at the W Brisbane, beating out serious competition including the winner of the Trailblazer Award - Jacaranda Finance founder Daniel Wessels.

In total, finalists at the Brisbane Awards netted a combined $570 million in revenue in FY22, and created thousands of job opportunities including more than 1,800 full-time positions and around 1,100 part-time or contractor roles.

In addition, almost one fifth of those who nominated for the Awards started their businesses in 2021 or later, demonstrating the continued strength of the river city as a hub for entrepreneurs looking to grow and develop their best ideas.

About 12 months ago, the crypto trading platform - the nation’s top-rated of its kind - had around 100,000 users. One year on, and that had ballooned to 600,000.

Combined with Superhero, the group’s userbase is now more than double that, with around 1.4 million users logging in to trade crypto, stocks or both.

Speaking to Business News Australia, co-founder Goldman said the greatest benefit from the merger is the improved offering for existing customers.

“We want to provide this ecosystem of financial products, and being able to introduce equities will obviously improve that mix alongside crypto,” Goldman said.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work internally to uplift our technology stack and move to what we’re calling ‘generation 2’ architecture - we’ve been doing that to make sure that we’re ready for our customers as the market changes.

“We see - particularly in these kinds of market conditions which are more bearish and quieter - that this is the best time to build.”

With the combination now complete, Goldman said the company’s next focus would be cracking the UK market, provided regulatory hurdles are overcome.

“We’re trying to push that forward as fast as possible, but our focus is always on existing customers rather than moving to new markets, because there’s no point in attracting people and then just not servicing them,” he said.

One of the Awards judges, Greencross founder Dr Glen Richards, said Goldman and Harper were “exceptional entrepreneurs”.

“Swyftx is still a dominant standout and I believe have continued to finesse their business to be a long-term player in the online trading industry,” Dr Richards said.

“Their merger with Superhero was a great move and now they offer a much broader and more stable range of products for investors.”

Swyftx was just one example of the impressive finalists on display at the 2022 Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards which was supported by corporate partners Go1, Venture Crowd, University of Queensland, MGI, Soda, Brisbane City Council, OSW and SAI Security.

See below for all winners from the night, and we thank all participants for sharing their stories with the Business News Australia journalists.

All winners at the 2022 Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards

Young Entrepreneurs of the Year - Alex Harper and Angus Goldman (Swyftx)
Trailblazer of the Year - Daniel Wessels (Jacaranda Finance)
Digital Disruptor - Conor Hagan and Alex Ewart (Explorate)
Fashion & Design - Nof Hamze and Alex Hamze (Alamour The Label)
Finance - Angus Goldman and Alex Harper (Swyftx)
Fitness - Peter Hull (Fitstop)
Health & Medicine - Joe Zhou (Joe Zhou Ptd Ltd, Kedron 7 Day Chemist, Aceso Group, Picture Lock Studio)
Hospitality & Tourism - Nicholas Mitrossilis - The Yiros Shop
Manufacturing, Wholesale & Distribution - Myrrah Balsabas and Joshua Spurway (Vision Made Co.)
Marketing - Shannah Bradshaw (Disrupt Digital, SponsoredLinx, Get More Traffic, Search Marketing Experts, Disrupt Music Group, Deep Future)
PR, Media & Events - Thomas Fu and Tom Mcpherson - Motor Culture Australia
Professional Services - Peter Dodeja (SAI Security Group, SAI Investments Group)
Property & Construction - Chris Baptista (HOMES by CMA)
Retail & Services - James Mutton (Motorcycle Trading)
Specialist Services - Maddison Lawrence (BUSHWRAPZ, Slick Azz Protective Films)
Startup - Nic Blair & Matt Anderson (Midnight Health)
Sustainability & Social Responsibility - Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi (Orange Sky)
Technology - Laurie Malone and Sam James (VALD)