Cape. It bills itself as "a Sydney-based Fintech that works with business owners, CFO’s and finance teams to help them take back control of company spending", and says it is "re-inventing the corporate card."
The company announced that it continues to strengthen its senior executive team with the appointment of the company’s first Chief Financial Officer, Tanya Ward, who will report to CEO Ryan Edwards-Pritchard.
Ward brings "over 20 years of financial leadership experience to the role, has worked across the US, Canada, Asia and Australia, and most recently Group Head of Financial Planning & Analysis for Pepper Money, supporting the company’s transition following its acquisition by the private equity group KKR back in 2017."
Cape says Ward brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Cape team from:
- Pepper Money - having a responsibility for establishing a new global performance framework, managing the global financial and cashflow forecasting and shaping the strategic scaleup of Pepper’s European & Asian businesses, with a particular focus on product profitability and improving cost efficiencies.
- Westpac - Ward supported the Treasury business during the GFC with developing new hedging strategies, whilst building reporting frameworks that bridged portfolio performance, funding composition and liquidity risk management. She then moved into Investor Relations, where she managed the relationships with Westpac’s fixed income investors and Rating Agencies, including running Debt Roadshows across US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Whilst in Finance Transformation, she led several project streams that delivered an enhanced performance reporting framework and improved balance sheet and capital management capabilities.
Tanya Ward, Chief Financial Officer, commented: “It’s a really exciting time to be joining Cape, we’re a dynamic disruptor in the finance industry that has the opportunity to provide radically better banking to millions of SME’s across Australia and the APAC region.
"What really attracted me to the role is that I’d be focused not just on the data and the unit economics, but I’ll be working in a startup that’s sole focus is on helping small business owners save time and money through innovative digital solutions.
"Given Cape’s product is dedicated to helping CFO’s and finance teams spend smarter, I felt that I can really help to develop the product and contribute to the direction of the business with my experience.
"The culture was also a big draw to Cape, I appreciate people being open, friendly and relatable.”
Ryan Edwards-Pritchard, CEO & Co-Founder, Cape, commented: “Since we started 6 months ago we’ve fortunately been able to hire some of the most talented fintech Senior Executives from across the globe. Tanya’s joining a formidable team that’s focused on solving some of the most difficult issues facing finance teams and business owners across Australia.
"Tanya’s unique knowledge of the cashflow & treasury landscape made her the ideal candidate to build out our finance function from scratch as we gear up to launch our MVP and to advance Cape’s mission to converge the fragmented world of money for SME’s, leading our customers to a healthier financial life.”
More information on Cape is here.
