Australia-based financial services provider ANZ Bank has spun off corporate venturing unit ANZi and rebranded it as 1835i Group.
The renamed 1835i Group will operate as an independent company with two branches: 1835i Creation Lab and 1835i Ventures. The moves comes three years after ANZi was founded.
ANZ will remain the sole investor in funds managed by 1835i (the name is a nod to the foundation of ANZ in 1835 in London when the Bank of Australasia was established under Royal Charter).
Ron Spector, managing director of 1835i, said: “This move allows us to better deliver on our mission to build, partner and invest in businesses and capabilities that benefit ANZ and its customers….
“Three years ago, we created ANZi as the innovation and venture capital function within ANZ. Since that time, we have launched three new ventures, built an [artificial intelligence]-first financial assistant platform and hold investments in eight emerging growth digital companies, including the digital home loan origination platform Lendi and foreign exchange platform Airwallex.
“We are now moving outside of ANZ to accelerate and scale this capability.”
Photo of Ron Spector courtesy of LinkedIn.
