FinTech entrepreneurs launch Instantia to make FX Options and Risk Management less complex and more transparent
With more than 30 years combined experience in financial services, industry veterans Richard Poulton and Danny Pezeshki have joined forces with Vietnamese tech titan VNG to launch Instantia. Providing organisations with real-time market intelligence to make smarter financial decisions, the end-to-end platform revolutionises foreign exchange by consolidating currency hedging positions into a user-friendly interface. The free mobile and desktop app offers a comprehensive suite of services, including currency options, forwards, spot FX, rate orders, and cross-border payment capabilities.
With an AFS license and backed by VNG, the founders of ZaloPay and Zalo (a Vietnamese messaging application with 75.8 million monthly active users in 2023), Instantia is set to become the go-to solution for importers and exporters navigating the volatile fluctuations of the Australian dollar against major currencies.
Drawing on the duo’s decade of top-level experience at AFEX and Poulton’s tenure at Corpay, the founders identified a significant opportunity for innovation in the sector, as CFOs were often reliant on outdated paper-based systems that failed to reflect current market data.
Launching now in 2024, the biggest election year globally on record, and with heightened geopolitical events and activity, the need for fiscal visibility and currency confidence has never been more critical.
Richard Poulton reflects, “In 2023, the AUD exhibited a significant 13.5 per cent movement range against the USD, highlighting the currency risk and the critical need for businesses to implement suitable risk management strategies. Typically, businesses collaborate with financial institutions to execute these strategies, utilising instruments such as forwards and options. However, managing multiple instruments across varying timeframes compounds this complexity. Not maintaining real-time visibility of FX positions can often lead to dire and costly consequences, as many businesses experienced during the AUD ‘Covid Crash’ in 2020.”
Instantia’s system accurately forecasts positions by combining real-market intel from Bloomberg Intelligence, in-house data modelling, and quantitative analysis.
Danny Pezeshki commented, “Throughout my career, I’ve had CFOs calling me in tears because they have been locked into 12 or 18-month option structures with no room for manoeuvre when the market has pushed up five to ten per cent against them. With these outdated and broken service models from financial institutions, customers don’t always understand the contracts they are entering into. They are working from complicated Excel spreadsheets and have zero transparency on opportunities and risks within their portfolio. We built the Instantia platform to tackle all of these issues. Rather than being sales-centric, Instantia is client-centric.”
Poulton added, “The stress in financial services can be crippling and has deeply impacted me personally. Following my journey, I’ve made it my mission to promote better mental health and wellbeing in the industry. Instantia’s dedication to responsible risk management is part of that effort. In Latin, Instantia means ‘to be present’ – a commitment to stay engaged with our customers throughout their entire FX journey. We are not a faceless corporation; we are a strategic partner.”
Core Features of the RMI interface:
- Strategy Builder – innovatively guides users in customising a hedging strategy based on their hedging experience and risk profiles.
- Market Matrix – a game-changing compilation of intelligent tools that analyses market data and projects deep insights like trigger level probabilities and rate expectations, facilitating fast and informed hedging decisions.
Clients onboarded and seeing results include PE Nation, Hot Springs, Rebecca Vallance, FlameStop, Knoxx Foods Australia, Ingolf and other household names in fashion and homewares.
The platform is free to access via desktop or mobile app, and each client receives a personalised service from a dedicated FX Specialist. No application, onboarding, or transaction fees apply.
To learn more, visit Instantia.co or download the app via Google Play or the Apple App Store.
