Propell, HungryHungry among winners of 2021 Finder Innovation Awards

SME finance platform Propell has been named among the most innovative Australian companies for 2021.

The platform, which offers both credit and payment tools to small and medium businesses, has won the Best B2B Innovation category of this year’s Finder Innovation Awards, beating out a shortlist that also included LegalVision, hummpro and Wilbur. 

Propell was founded in 2016 and listed on the ASX in April this year. It’s goal is to ease the cashflow challenges faced by SMEs via its artificial intelligence platform, which allows business owners to access a line of credit of up to $100,000. This sits alongside a suite of payment tools — including buy-now, pay-later options — to allow SMEs to get paid faster by their customers. 

Announced during a live online event at midday on Thursday, the Finder Innovation Awards celebrate creativity and new initiatives launched by Australian businesses over the past 12 months. 

“Propell has set itself apart from other fintechs by offering an all-in-one platform designed to accurately assess the financial needs of small and medium-sized businesses. This innovative and unique platform really cements their commitment to delivering quick and easy solutions to customers. The success of Propell has been demonstrated by strong performance numbers despite only launching in late 2020,” the award judges said in a statement. 

HungryHungry, one of the shortlisted businesses in last year’s SmartCompany Resilience Awards, was also among the winners.

The hospitality startup came out in front of Coles Group, Fast Cover Travel Insurance and Klook ANZ to take home the award for the most innovative business response to COVID-19 for its in-venue ordering solution, Collect@Counter. 

Both Propell and HungryHungry have innovated to serve small and medium businesses during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Finder Australia chief Chris Ellis applauded them for their creative problem solving during such a difficult time for their customers. 

The pandemic forced many businesses to become more agile and resilient, says Ellis, and many prioritised and accelerated innovation as a result. 

“We saw a number of strong entries from organisations embracing the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and adapting alongside changes to consumer behaviour,” Ellis told SmartCompany. 

“The businesses that have embraced these new opportunities are the ones that are thriving — and innovation is at the heart of this.”

Other awards winners include: Zip Co, Best Buy Now, Pay Later Innovation; Upcover, Best Insurtech Innovation; Tic:Toc, Best Banking Innovation; Coles Group, Best Supermarket Innovation; and more. 

A full list of the Finder Innovation Awards winners can be found here.

SmartCompany editor Eloise Keating was one of the judges for the 2021 Finder Innovation Awards.