Sydney fintech Hello Clever wins top honours at 2026 Smart50 Awards

Detailed summary

The Sydney-founded company secured the #1 spot by growing its revenue to $17 million in 2025-26 – a CAGR of 307% over three years. The post Sydney fintech Hello Clever wins top…

Hello Clever, the fintech scaleup that combines card-free payments, loyalty programs, and customer intelligence, has earned top billing at the 2026 Smart50 Awards.

The Sydney-founded company secured the number one place on the Smart50 list by growing its revenue to $17 million in 2025-26 – a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 307% over three years.

The startup, and other leading lights in Australia’s small business and startup sector, was honoured at Smart50 Awards gala dinner in Melbourne on Thursday night.

Founded in 2021 by Caroline Tran and Gavin Nguyen, Hello Clever sought to disrupt traditional payment methods and Australia’s reliance on card transactions.

Instead of building a payments company on card payment rails, Hello Clever delivered Australia’s first customer-to-business transaction through the cardless PayTo service.

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Its next move: combining real-time payment systems with loyalty programs, encouraging both customers and businesses to rethink their next transaction.

Hello Clever introduced a ‘buy-to-earn’ offering, turning what merchants save on card processing fees into instant cashback for customers.

The startup grew quickly, and has now processed $3.5 billion in transactions for clients.

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