Traditional banking in New Zealand – or anywhere for that matter – has never exactly been a thrill. It came with long wait times, stacks of paperwork and phone queues that just didn’t seem to end.
But now, a new generation of local founders are building something better and the rest of the world is finally starting to take notice. From Auckland to Wellington, the fintech sector now has around 200 startups which have generated NZD $2.6 billion in revenue in 2023 alone. That’s a fourfold increase in just a decade.
The Stats Making Big Banks Sweat
What has been especially interesting is just how much investor confidence has followed. Reports indicate that between 2024 and mid-2025, these fintech startups collectively raised NZD $967 million which is more than half of all venture capital invested in local tech during that time. It actually outpaced food, energy and healthtech combined.
Where is this growth coming from? Well, part of it comes down to geography. New Zealand is relatively small but their population is incredibly tech-savvy which means they are a great testing ground for financial products before they are scaled globally.
The other part is timing, meaning the tightening of compliance requirements and a generation of consumers who’ve grown up expecting their bank to work as smoothly as their choice of streaming service.
Meet The New Zealand FinTech Startups Banking On Bold
Behind every single one of these startups and the many others is a bunch of strong-minded founders who were fed up with the old ways of banking and decided to do something about it.
So, who are some of the top companies in this space?
1. Emerge
Emerge is a platform that allows Kiwi businesses to open bank accounts in a matter of minutes. Users can issue team cards instantly, run batch payments straight from their accounting software and ditch the fees entirely.
The company’s founders are also the duo behind the kids’ money app SquareOne. By October 2025, they had expanded beyond business banking into personal accounts too, offering virtual Mastercards, real-time spend notifications – and zero hold music.
A year prior in 2024, Emerge closed a NZD $12 million Series A round led by Altered Capital, the same investors who backed UK challenger back Starling.
2. Dosh
Dosh began with the simple idea of making the process of paying people on your phone as easy as it is texting them. Founded back in 2021, it became New Zealand’s first local mobile wallet. Today, they offer savings accounts, personal loans, a Visa debit card and a rewards programme which earns users ‘phone dollars’ on everyday spending.
In 2024, Dosh applied to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for a full banking license to become the country’s first locally-owned, fully digital bank. To back up their ambition, they partnered with Visa and core banking platform Pismo. Whether or not that license comes through, Dosh is clearly not playing small.
3. Hnry
Hnry built an all-in-one platform that handles tax calculations, GST, invoicing, expenses and filings in real time for contractors and freelancers. Users can save an average of five hours of admin time every week and 75% of the cost compared to using a traditional accountant.
The numbers really do speak for themselves. They closed a NZD $35 million Series B in early 2023, won the Innovation in Financial Services award at the 2024 INFINIZ Awards and a place in the Deloitte Fast 50. At the end of last year, they closed a NZD $30 million Series C led by Movac, bringing its total funding to nearly $1 million since inception.
Hnry has now fully launched in the UK where four million sole traders are just waiting to be liberated from tax paperwork.
4. Sharesies
The founders of Sharesies had a simple question: why does investing feel like its only for people with a lot of money? The platform allows you to start with literally one cent. Now, it gives access to thousands of investments across New Zealand, Australia and the US, building one of the most loyal communities in local tech along the way.
A NZD $48 million series C in 2021 valued the company at NZD $500 million and the platform has now expanded to include KiwiSaver, a savings product as well as car insurance through Cove and the acquisition of wealth management platform Orchestra.
5. Centrapay
Centrapay is the B2B payment infrastructure layer that connects digital wallets, open banking transfers, loyalty points, gift cards and digital assets. Essentially, it’s the necessary plumbing behind next-generation payments.
The company has powered the launch of Payap, a QR-based mobile payment app backed by the Bank of New Zealand which became the top free finance app on the New Zealand iOS App Store shortly after its launch.
6. Marloo
When you seek financial advice, up to 60% of the total cost of advice goes to administration and compliance, not the actual advice. Marloo, founded in Auckland, is determined to fix that.
Their AI assistant for financial advisers automates admin tasks, generates draft advice documents and creates unified client records from meeting notes, calls and uploaded documents.
The company raised NZD $4.2 million in a pre-seed round and a further US $2.7 million came in September 2025, seeing 45% growth month-on-month.
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