Bundaberg's Lex Greensill CBE was named 2019 Australian EY Entrepreneur of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Sydney last night.
He also took out the Emerging Male Entrepreneur category award.
Mr Greensill founded Greensill in 2011 and today it's a market-leading provider of working capital finance for companies around the world.
In August, Mr Greensill was was announced 2019 QUT Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.
EY Oceania chief executive and managing partner Tony Johnson congratulated Mr Greensill on the award.
“Lex spent his early life on his family's sugar cane farm in Queensland, where he learned first hand how the supply chains can make or break a business,” Mr Johnson said.
“During that time, he witnessed the pressures on his parents when their small farming business had to deal with large multinational companies and their long payment terms.
“He determined he was going to change the way small companies were treated by big companies and has devoted his career to devising innovative solutions that give companies greater access to working capital.
“Lex embodies the great Australian entrepreneurial spirit – he saw a problem, devised an innovative solution and took it to the world.”
Greensill, the company founded by Lex Greensill in 2011, uses the power of financial markets to unlock capital on terms that fit the precise requirements of its clients, from 20 days to 20 years and beyond.
Greensill’s working capital and supply chain finance solutions have helped to fund everything from mobile phone handsets to prompt payments for pharmacists who provide life-saving care in the UK.
In just eight years, the company has grown to become a world leader in working capital finance with more than $60 billion extended to over eight million customers in more than 165 countries.
Greensill owns a bank, based in Bremen, Germany, and has more than $6 billion of assets under management in a suite of supply-chain finance investment funds operated by leading fund management organisations.
The company is growing at around 300 per cent a year. It has offices in London, New York, Chicago, Miami, Frankfurt, Bremen, and Sydney, with nearly 400 specialists worldwide.
Mr Greensill will fly the flag for Australian innovation and entrepreneurialism at 2020 EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year in Monaco next June in a contest against national winners from more than 60 countries.
Australian EY Entrepreneur of the Year judge Laura Anderson said: “From an office in Bundaberg, Lex has managed to become a true global disruptor, democratising capital and in the process helping 2.3 million SMEs and more than nine million consumers. With so much more to the story than first meets the eye, he has also managed to embed social impact at the heart of his model, which all combined to make him the standout candidate.”
