The company's shares are currently swapping hands at 9.9 cents, a 16.47% gain. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is climbing 0.41% today.

Change is a global fintech company providing payments as a service (PaaS) to 141 clients in 41 countries

Let's take a look at what this ASX fintech announced today.

Deal with Mastercard

The Change Financial share price is surging after the company announced it has signed an exclusive six-year agreement with Mastercard in Australia and New Zealand.

The company will receive a cash incentive payment of $1.4 million from Mastercard upon the launch of the first direct issuing program in Australia or New Zealand. This is expected in H1 FY23.

Mastercard and Change will now be able to work together to spearhead prepaid and debit card programs for banks and fintechs.

Change also expects the agreement will deliver transactional and recurring revenues and incentive discounts that will reduce the network costs.

The ASX fintech is optimistic this deal will open up further opportunities to drive growth in the Oceania region.

Commenting on the agreement fuelling the Change Financial share price today, CEO and managing director Alastair Wilkie said:

This Agreement strengthens both our long-standing relationship with Mastercard in the US, as well as our transaction processing capabilities for existing clients.

Our partnership with Mastercard will deliver direct issuing capabilities for our Australian and New Zealand clients, giving them a faster path to market for innovative prepaid and debit card products

The Oceania region generates 29% of Change's revenue and 33% of its client base.

Change Financial share price snapshot

The Change Financial share price has fallen 9% in a year and almost 5% this year to date.

In the past month, the company's shares have soared 14%, while they are up 12% in the past week alone.

For perspective, the benchmark ASX index has returned about 11% over the past year.

The company has a market capitalisation of about $39 million based on the current share price.

The post This ASX fintech just did a deal with Mastercard, and its shares are soaring 16% appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

What is Change Financial?

Change Financial, formerly ChimpChange, is a US-focused fin-tech company developing innovative and scalable payments technology to provide solutions for businesses and financial institutions.

Change Financial is currently building a Mastercard-registered enterprise payments and card processor.

Acquisition news

The Change share price shot higher after the company announced a binding agreement to buy Wirecard NZ & Australia assets for A$7.8 million. The acquisition represents an EV/Revenue multiple of 0.5x based on FY20 revenue of approximately US$11.1 million.

Impressively, the acquisition brings significant scale and growth through the addition of 120 customers and capability in more than 35 countries. Moreover, Wirecard had a blue chip client base including the big 4 Australian banks, major Australian supermarkets, Asian and South American banks and fintechs.

In June, Wirecard was placed into voluntary administration. Following an extensive due diligence and highly competitive sale process, Change Financial was selected as the preferred bidder for the assets. Wirecard provides innovative payment management and platform solutions.

Cash consideration and costs are proposed to be funded via a placement raising $6.4 million and an entitlement offer to existing shareholders raising approximately $4.9 million.

Capital raising

The company has received unconditional binding commitments for a placement to institutions, sophisticated and professional investors. The placement price is 9.5 cents per share. This represents a 17.4% discount to the last Change share price close.

This will be swiftly followed by an entitlement offer to eligible shareholders. Eligible shareholders will be able to receive 2 new shares for every 11 shares currently held at the price of 9.5 cents as above.

Foolish takeaway

In completing the acquisition, Wirecard will provide Change with a huge amount of potential clients across the globe. Furthermore, the company was earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) positive and generated strong revenue before it fell into administration. This deal also represents impressive value for money as Change is only paying 0.5x revenue.

The Change share price is currently trading 43% higher after the news.

The post Why the Change (ASX:CCA) share price rocketed 43% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

However, this does not stop beginner investors or speculators regularly trading shares in the hope of a quick profit, or in the hope of buying that 1 in a 1,000 company that goes on to be a huge winner. 

It's true that this end of the market can produce massive winners returning say 5,000% in just 5 years or more like Pro Medicus Limited (ASX: PME) or Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA), but finding these companies amongst today's contenders is a tough task that requires expertise and a little luck.

I don't propose to cover the below companies on the list below in much detail, but rather to make a couple of points around small or micro-cap speculating.

As you can see most of the companies below have lost around 95% of their value over the past year. 

If you lose 95% of your investment say from $100 to $5, you will need to make 1,900% just to get back to $100 again. An almost impossible task.

So speculating at this end of the market as a novice investor could permanently destroy your investment capital and end up excluding you from the real wealth creating mid and large-cap ends of the share market where small fortunes can be made without taking silly risks. 

The speculative end of the market is also lightly regulated and deliberately so, the principle of caveat emptor or "buyer beware" rules as most micro-cap companies are unprofitable or have little revenue. In other words they list to raise capital more than to allow 'mum and dad' investors to trade shares.

Raising capital is after all one of the two primary functions of stock markets.

As for most companies at this end of the market with little or no revenue bank debt is not an option. As bankers are definitely not foolish enough to lend.

This means every company at this end of the market will have an attractive story to sell to investors, but very few will go onto become big winners.

The light regulation also means this end of the market attracts plenty of dubious operators often perpetuating some of the oldest tricks in the share market scam book to profit for themselves. Anyone who loses money at this end of the market though has little recourse other than to blame themselves for their stupidity.

"The fault dear Brutus is not in the stars, it is in ourselves".

With Shakespeare's advice in mind let's take a brief look at the 10 worst small caps of FY 2019 according to Commsec.

Source: Commsec, July 3 2019.

Alderan Resources Ltd (ASX: AL8) is a copper mining explorer in Utah, USA. It raised $1.6 million from investors via a placement in May 2019.

Intiger Group Ltd (ASX: IAM) reports it operates a software development house to assist financial planners. The stock sits at 1 cent.

iBuyNew Group Ltd (ASX: IBN) is a residential property buying advisory group. The stock is down 94% in a year.

White Cliff Minerals Ltd (ASX: WCN) is a gold explorer focused in the Kyrgyz Republic and nickel-cobalt explorer in Western Australia. It raised $1.15 million (before costs) from investors earlier in 2019.

Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) is in the "fintech" and payments technologies space. Investors appear unimpressed given the stock price.

Cycliq Group Ltd (ASX: CYQ) is a bicycle accessories business. It looks to have a long road ahead of it.

Bionomics Ltd (ASX: BNO) is a biopharmaceutical company researching treatments for anxiety, Alzheimer's and other common ailments. Speculative biotech stocks commonly bomb at the small-cap end of the share market on failed trial results.

Silver Chef Limited (ASX: SIV) is a kitchen equipment leasing business that ran into trouble in FY 2019 on the back of ballooning losses. 

Factor Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: FTT) is a speculative biotech researching wound care therapies.

Freedom Oil and Gas Ltd (ASX: FDM) is an oil and gas exploration company in Texas. Looking at the share price it's better at spending money than making it.

The post Warning: These are the 10 worst small-cap shares of FY 2019 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three shares that missed out on this push higher due to being in trading halts today are listed below.

Here's why they are halted:

AusCann Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AC8)

This medicinal cannabis company requested a trading halt this morning pending the release of an announcement regarding a capital raising. AusCann's shares are expected to remain in the trading halt until Thursday. While no details have been provided yet, the AFR has reported that AusCann aims to raise $30 million to support clinical studies and the expansion of its manufacturing facilities. Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth Corp, the company's strategic partner and largest shareholder, is expected to pick up a large portion of shares at $1.10 per share.

Birimian Ltd (ASX: BGS)

This lithium-focused mineral exploration company's shares have been placed in a halt pending the announcement of a maiden ore reserve and the findings of its updated pre-feasibility study of the Goulamina Lithium Project in Mali. This is expected to be released before the market open on Wednesday. The project could be a lucrative one for Birimian as a previous scoping study has demonstrated the potential for the company to develop Goulamina as a 1 million tonnes per annum high grade open pit mine.

Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA)

According to an ASX release this fintech company has requested that its shares remain in a trading halt until the commencement of normal trading on Wednesday. No details were given for the halt, but I suspect that it could be a credit raising as its cash balance was dwindling at the end of the last quarter. Considering a capital raising has looked necessary for some time, shareholders will be very disappointed that the company has taken so long to do one (if it does). Just under a month ago the company's share price was trading close to $1.00, now it is down to a lowly 67 cents and will likely have to raise money at a discount to this.

The post Why these ASX shares are in trading halts appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three that caught my eye are listed below. Here's why they have pushed higher:

The Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) share price has moved almost 6% higher to 92 cents after the mobile banking company released its latest quarterly update. According to the release, the company's consumer offering now has over 160,000 customers using its award-winning platform. This led to customer deposits for the quarter growing by 19% quarter-on-quarter to US$22.9 million. In addition to this, management advised that its enterprise solution is progressing towards its launch and it has secured enterprise agreements with Central Bank of Kansas City, MasterCard, and Discover Financial Services subsidiary, Pulse.

The Clean Seas Seafood Ltd (ASX: CSS) share price has pushed 3.5% to 5.8 cents after the seafood company announced that its sales revenue year-to-date as of the end of the third quarter was $30.9 million. This is an increase of 23% on the prior corresponding period and I feel it puts Clean Seas Seafood in a strong position to achieve its full year sales revenue guidance of between $43 million and $47 million. A combination of increased sales volumes and better prices were behind the strong performance. In addition to this, the company announced that its new SensoryFresh products are being launched in international markets this month.

The Fastbrick Robotics Ltd (ASX: FBR) share price is up 5% to 20.5 cents in early trade. This morning the robotics company announced that EY-Parthenon has completed its research into the global addressable market for its Hadrian X construction robot. According to the data, 140,000 to 150,000 Hadrian X's would be required to build all low-rise buildings globally in 2018. Management has decided to target a minimum of 2% of the addressable market for Hadrian X over the next five years. While no details were given in terms of the projected value of the market, I expect it could prove to be a lucrative one.

The post Why these 3 small cap shares are pushing higher today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three shares at the small cap end of the market that made a notable move higher are listed below. Here's why:

The Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) share price is up 3.5% to an all-time high of $1.17. This morning the fintech company released its second-quarter update which revealed record transaction volume growth of 17%, deposit growth of 18%, and purchase growth of 16% for its consumer division quarter-on-quarter. According to the release, Change Financial now has 150,000+ direct to consumer customers using its award-winning ChimpChange Mobile Banking platform and received customer deposits of more than US$19.2 million during the December quarter. I've been very impressed with its growth, though I do have slight concerns over its cash outflows. Its cash balance was reduced to $4.8 million from $6.7 million during the latest quarter. At the current burn rate I would estimate this will be enough for three more quarters.

The Gage Roads Brewing Co Limited (ASX: GRB) share price is 4.5% higher at 9.3 cents following the release of its quarterly update. Although the company recorded an unaudited EBITDA result of $1.3 million for the first-half, down from $2.8 million for the prior corresponding period, the result was in line with expectations. This was largely due to the $0.9 million of non-recurring income in the prior corresponding period and a $1.1 million increase in sales and marketing compared to the prior period. While I'm not ready to hit the buy button, I do think Gage Roads could be one to watch. Especially if its contract with Optus stadium proves to be a success.

The Oliver's Real Food Ltd (ASX: OLI) share price jumped 15% to 26.5 cents after its quarterly update revealed cash receipts of $10.5 million and net operating cash inflow of $1.8 million for the three months ending December 31. This was a sizeable increase on the $7.7 million and $5,000, respectively, it delivered in the September quarter. In light of this much improved performance, I think the healthy fast food company is worth a closer look. And considering the ongoing consumer shift away from junk food to healthy options, I think Oliver's could have a bright future ahead of it.

The post These 3 small-cap shares posted strong gains today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares acting as a drag on the market today are listed below. Here's why they have dropped lower:

The Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price has fallen 5.5% to 44.5 cents despite positive news out of the company. This morning the lithium miner provided an update on the Stage 2 development progress at its Rincon Lithium Project in Argentina. Its evaporation ponds have now been filled with lithium brine and these ponds are fully operational for solar evaporation and lithium concentration during the peak summer season.

The Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) share price has tumbled 5% to $1.07. This fast-growing U.S. based digital bank company's shares surged to an all-time high yesterday, I suspect this has led to a spot of profit-taking from traders today. I think it is worth taking a closer look at Change Financial.

The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is down almost 2% to $5.35. Today's decline is likely to be related to a broker downgrade by UBS. The investment bank has downgraded the energy company to a sell rating with a price target of $5.20 in response to its strong share price gain over the last few months. One of its peers was also downgraded by UBS.

The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price is down almost 2% to $3.64. Like Santos, the telco company's decline appears to be attributable to a broker downgrade. A note out of Macquarie reveals that its analysts have cut its rating on Telstra to neutral from outperform ahead of earnings season in February. I think Telstra is attractive at the current share price.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares dropped lower today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing the Bitcoin price is fetching US$17,329.36 according to CoinDesk.

What's been happening?

According to the Financial Times, the Bitfinex exchange went offline overnight after being subjected to denial of service attacks. Elsewhere, the Coinbase exchange appears to have buckled due to the sheer demand by new users eager to gain exposure to the crytocurrency.

Which shouldn't come as a surprise. At the start of the year the Bitcoin price was around US$1,000, whereas now it is 1,600% higher.

This means that a $10,000 investment in Bitcoin at the start of the year would be worth $170,000 today.

Unfortunately, I think it is very unlikely that we will see Bitcoin deliver returns like that again any time soon. So investors might want to consider shares with exposure to cryptocurrencies instead.

Two shares that jump out to me are Digitalx Ltd (ASX: DCC) and Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA).

As I said yesterday, I think DigitalX is a promising company but I'm not ready to invest in it just yet on valuation grounds.

Whereas Change Financial could be a great long-term buy and hold investment due to its strong core business and exposure to cryptocurrencies through its 33% stake in Ivy Koin.

Ivy Koin is developing a blockchain-based solution to one of the biggest problems preventing mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies by banks. Its business-class coin has been designed for business transactions over $10,000 and comes with the ability to turn on or off a transparency layer that satisfies banking partners.

Furthermore, it embeds significantly more information into cryptocurrency payments than is currently transmitted via the SWIFT network, potentially opening up cryptocurrency banking to more banking institutions and professional business merchants.

While it is early days and there's a long road ahead, I do think it makes this mobile banking company even more attractive and one to watch in 2018.

The post Bitcoin races past US$17,000 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares that have defied the market today and climbed higher are listed below. Here's why they are ending the week with solid gains:

The Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) share price has climbed 9% to 88.5 cents. Earlier in the day the mobile banking company's shares reached an all-time high of 90 cents despite there being no news out of it. I think that Change Financial will be one to watch in 2018.

The Janus Henderson Group (ASX: JHG) share price has climbed 4% to $47.47. Today's gain appears to be related to a couple of broker notes released this morning. Citi has upgraded the fund manager's shares to a buy rating and UBS has retained its buy rating and raised its price target to US$40.

The Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) share price has continued its strong run and is up 5% to $1.03. This morning the lithium miner announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Polaris Shipping to discuss a potential joint venture for a downstream lithium chemical conversion facility servicing South Korea's rapidly growing lithium-ion battery industry.

The Westfield Corp Ltd (ASX: WFD) share price is up 3% to $8.36 following the release of its third-quarter update. The shopping centre operator had a solid quarter, reporting an 8.4% year-on-year increase in rent per square foot. Westfield had 93.4% of its portfolio leased at the end of the quarter.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are ending the week with solid gains appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The good news is that that due to the high number of small-cap shares on the Australian share market I believe that this strong run can continue long into 2018.

Which could make it an opportune time to consider adding some small-caps into your portfolio. Four shares which I'm tipping for a solid 2018 are listed below. Here's why I like them:

Big Un Ltd (ASX: BIG)

This video technology company's shares may be up over 1,500% this year, but I still believe it has the potential to climb notably higher in 2018. Yesterday Big Un advised that cash receipts in the second-quarter of FY 2018 are expected to be up 398% on the prior corresponding period to $20 million. If it continues this form in the following quarters then I estimate it will deliver a full-year cash profit of approximately $30 million.

Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA)

Change Financial, formerly known as ChimpChange, is a mobile banking company that is targeting millennials and the underbanked in the massive United States market. I've been very impressed at the way it has continued to grow its user numbers and transactions at a solid rate this year and expect more of the same next year.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

Due to the high level of pet ownership and its growth through acquisition strategy, I believe this fast-growing veterinary company is well-positioned to deliver above-average earnings growth for the foreseeable future. This year the company expanded into the New Zealand market, opening up the door to further acquisition opportunities.

Zenitas Healthcare Ltd (ASX: ZNT)

This home care and health services company would have to be one of my favourite small-cap shares in the healthcare sector. Demand for healthcare services is expected to rise considerably over the next couple of decades due to Australia's ageing and growing population. I expect Zenitas to profit more than most due to the National Healthcare Reform pushing the burden of healthcare services from hospitals into primary care.

The post 4 small-cap shares I'm tipping for big things in 2018 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Here are 10 small-cap shares which I think are worth keeping a close eye on:

Big Un Ltd (ASX: BIG)

Strong demand for this video technology company's services led it to report a whopping 429% increase in cash receipts to $21.5 million in FY 2017. Impressively, thanks partly to its US expansion, first-quarter cash receipts are expected to be approximately $15 million, up 488% on the prior corresponding period.

Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA)

Change Financial, formerly known as ChimpChange, is a mobile banking company targeting millennials and the underbanked in the United States. It continues to grow its user numbers and transactions at a very strong rate.

Family Zone Cyber Safety Ltd (ASX: FZO)

This cyber safety products and services provider has had a busy year. As well as making progress in the US education sector, the company has signed agreements with major Asian telco companies Telkomsel and Maxis Communications that give it access to almost 180 million mobile subscribers.

Fastbrick Robotics Ltd (ASX: FBR)

This robotics company's Hadrian X bricklaying robot can lay 1,000 standard brick equivalents per hour, compared to the 400 bricks that a typical bricklayer lays per day. The company has US-giant Caterpillar as a strategic partner and recently announced a memorandum of understanding to build 50,000 new homes in Saudi Arabia

LiveHire Ltd (ASX: LVH)

This talent technology company provides a popular software platform which creates a pool of pre-qualified job candidates that companies can access when they need to recruit. The platform saves companies both time and money during the recruitment process.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

Thanks to its expanding footprint, its focus on growth through acquisition, and the high levels of pet ownership in Australia and New Zealand, I believe this veterinary company has an extremely bright future ahead of it.

Swift Networks Group Ltd (ASX: SW1)

This entertainment and telecommunication services company provides fully integrated solutions for the resources, hospitality, lifestyle village, and aged care accommodation sectors. I believe there is a huge opportunity for the company in the aged care sector due to Australia's ageing population.

Updater Inc (ASX: UPD)

This US-based relocation technology company has impressed investors with the rapid adoption of its software. At the last count, Updater was processing 16.6% of all U.S. relocations. Management believes it has reached a scale at which it can emerge as the core platform for the relocation industry and monetize its software significantly.

Wattle Health Australia Ltd (ASX: WHA)

Next month Wattle Health expects to be given CFDA approval to sell its infant formula products in China from January 1 when new regulations come into place. If Chinese consumers take a liking to the product then sales could rise significantly.

Zenitas Healthcare Ltd (ASX: ZNT)

I believe this home care and health services company is in a strong position to profit over the next decade due to the National Healthcare Reform pushing the burden of healthcare services from hospitals into primary care.

The post 10 exciting small-cap shares to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Four shares that haven't been able to follow the market higher today are listed below. Here's why they are ending the week in the red:

The Argosy Minerals Limited (ASX: AGY) share price has plunged 8% to 23.5 cents after emerging from its self-imposed suspension. Investors appear to be disappointed that the mineral exploration company was forced to reduce its $15 million placement price to 18 cents per share from 22 cents.

The Cann Group Ltd (ASX: CAN) share price has continued its poor run and is down a further 3.5% to $1.18. the brings the medicinal cannabis company's week-to-date decline to almost 10% despite there being no news out if it. However, considering its shares have more than doubled in value in the last three months, this decline could be due to profit-taking.

The Change Financial Ltd (ASX: CCA) share price has fallen 3% to 76.5 cents. Like Cann, this fast-growing fintech company's shares have been on a tear recently, which could mean today's decline is related to traders taking profit. I have been impressed with Change Financial's recent results and believe it could be a great buy and hold investment.

The Xenith IP Group Ltd (ASX: XIP) share price has fallen 30% to $1.17 after the intellectual property services company provided full-year EBITDA guidance that fell short of the market's expectations. Due largely to issues with recent acquisitions, Xenith IP expects EBITDA to be between $18 million and $22 million in FY 2018.

The post Why these 4 ASX shares are ending the week in the red appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three which I feel are well worth getting better acquainted with are listed below. Here's why:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company has an ambitious goal of disrupting the American banking system. It certainly is well on its way to doing so after recently revealing that it is closing in on 100,000 active customer accounts. This is an impressive increase given that just over a year ago it had around 10,000 accounts on its books. I believe the launch of several revenue-generating features will result in strong top line growth in FY 2018.

Livetiles Ltd (ASX: LVT)

This digital workplace platform provider has been growing its subscriber numbers at an incredibly strong rate. This led to the company reporting a massive 293% jump in annualised revenue growth to $4 million in FY 2017. Its strong growth clearly impressed the market enough for it to be able to raise $11 million from sophisticated and professional investors in August. These funds will be used to expand its sales reach and drive global customer and revenue growth.

Think Childcare Ltd (ASX: TNK)

Year-to-date the shares of this fledgling childcare centre operator are down by around 12%. I believe this has left them trading at a great price for investors prepared to make a long-term buy and hold investment. Thanks to its pipeline of newly developed, purpose built childcare centres around Australia that are waiting to be acquired progressively over the next five years, I believe Think Childcare is in a position to deliver above-average earnings and dividend growth for the foreseeable future.

The post 3 small-cap shares with strong growth potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Below you will find 10 shares which I'm watching very closely. Although not all of these shares are investable right now, I think all deserve to be added to your watchlist today.

They are as follows:

Avz Minerals Ltd (ASX: AVZ)

Whilst the resources sector isn't for everyone, for those that can stomach the volatility I would suggest you take a close look at Avz Minerals due to the world class potential of its Manono lithium project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Early drilling results have revealed the presence of high-grade lithium mineralisation.

Big Un Ltd (ASX: BIG)

Demand for this subscription-based video technology company's products and services has gone through the roof this year. This led to the company reporting a stunning 429% increase in full-year cash receipts. Impressively the first-quarter of FY 2018 has started just as strongly, with management expecting cash receipts of $12.5 million. This will be an increase of 390% on the prior corresponding period.

Bubs Australia Ltd (ASX: BUB)

Thanks to supply agreements with Brilite Nutritionals and NetEase Kaola.com, this baby food and infant formula company has significantly expanded the availability of its products in the lucrative China market. While only time will tell whether this ultimately leads to sales volumes that rival a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M), in my opinion it has given itself a fighting chance.

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

ChimpChange, soon to be known as Change Financial, is a US-based digital banking company which aims to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile platform. The company has been growing its user numbers at a very quick rate over the last 12 months and shows no signs of slowing. I believe the launch of revenue-generating features will result in strong top line growth in FY 2018.

GetSwift Ltd (ASX: GSW)

This delivery management software provider is my favourite small-cap share at the moment. The company aims to streamline a company's logistics through its innovative logistics platform by optimising delivery routes, automating the dispatch process, and providing real-time tracking alerts. During the last quarter the company processed 729,626 deliveries through its platform, an increase of 46% on the prior quarter.

LiveHire Ltd (ASX: LVH)

LiveHire is a growing talent technology company that provides a software platform which creates a pool of pre-qualified job candidates to access when companies need to recruit. Last quarter strong demand for the platform led to the company reporting a 30% quarter-on-quarter increase in cash receipts. Furthermore, the company finished the period with zero debt and a cash balance of almost $18 million.

Livetiles Ltd (ASX: LVT)

This digital workplace platform provider recently announced impressive annualised subscription revenue growth of 292% to $4 million for the 2017 financial year. Furthermore, earlier this month LiveTiles successfully raised $11 million via an oversubscribed placement in order to accelerate its already explosive growth.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

With an estimated 79% of dogs and 65% of cats going to the vet at least once a year and pet ownership at high levels, I believe this veterinary company is in a strong position to deliver above-average earnings growth for some time to come. Especially with the highly fragmented industry providing ample opportunities to grow through acquisition.

Swift Networks Group Ltd (ASX: SW1)

This fast-growing telecommunications and digital entertainment company's shares have been on a tear this year and for good reason. Thanks to improved profitability and the growing popularity of its services in the resources and aged care sector, the company expects FY 2017's EBITDA to be $1 million. This will be a remarkable financial turnaround for the company following a normalised EBITDA loss of $1.5 million in FY 2016.

Updater Inc (ASX: UPD)

Updater's relocation software certainly has been growing in popularity with U.S. consumers this year. Earlier this week the company advised that the estimated market penetration of monthly moves processed reached 15.7% of all U.S. household moves in July. According to the release, Updater processed 234,503 unique household moves during the month, which is an all-time company high.

The post 10 small-cap ASX shares with huge potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Two shares which I think offer investors exactly that at the moment are listed below. Here's why I think they are small-cap shares to buy:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

ChimpChange, soon to be known as Change Financial, is a US-based digital banking company which I believe has enormous growth potential. The company aims to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile platform and has been doing a great job of it.

Earlier this month the company announced its strongest quarter of customer acquisitions to date. During the quarter the company added 30,811 new customers to its platform, surpassing the 100,000 customers mark in the process. This led to its quarterly revenue rising 36% on the March quarter and 336% on the prior corresponding period.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

With a market capitalisation of approximately $131 million, National Veterinary Care is approximately a fifth of the size of industry giant Greencross Limited (ASX: GXL). But with the veterinary market highly fragmented, I believe the company has the opportunity to close the gap significantly over the next decade through organic growth and acquisitions.

And with pet ownership at high levels and management estimating that on average 79% of dogs and 65% of cats go to the vet at least once a year, demand for its services looks likely to remain robust for some time to come.

The post 2 small-cap ASX shares I would buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Two shares which I think are worth taking a closer look at are listed below. Here's why I think they should be on your watchlist:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company has lofty ambitions to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile banking platform. So far the company has performed extremely strongly and recently reported exceptionally strong growth in user numbers and transactions.

Furthermore, this morning I was pleased to see that the company plans to change its name to Change Financial Ltd in the near future. This has been done to reflect the evolution of the business and growth into new banking verticals beyond consumer bank accounts for the millennial demographic.

Xtek Ltd (ASX: XTE)

I believe that this exciting defence technology is one to watch in the future. Xtek was recently named as the primary contractor in the massive $100 million LAND 129 Phase 4 program for the supply of drones to the Australian defence force. As well as this, this morning the company announced that it will act as the supplier of the small, portable, reliable, and rugged unmanned aerial platform WASP AE for AeroVironment.

Another reason I like the company is that following a recent oversubscribed placement, this cash flow positive company has almost a quarter of its market capitalisation in cash. Management intends to use these funds to support product commercialisation and development, and allow it to pursue more and larger contracts.

The post 2 exciting small-cap shares to add to your watchlist appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three standouts in my eyes were a2 Milk Company Ltd (Australia) (ASX: A2M), Big Un Ltd (ASX: BIG), and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB). These three shares finished FY 2017 with share price gains of 129%, 843%, and 78%, respectively.

Now that we are in a new financial year, I thought I would take a look at a number of growth shares which I believe are positioned to outperform over the next 12 months.

Here are five to watch:

Appen Ltd (ASX: APX)

This fast-growing company provides data solutions and services to global technology companies and government agencies. Strong demand for its high quality data for machine learning-based product development means that this year the company expects to deliver EBITDA growth of between 40% and 50%. Due to the rise of artificial intelligence, I believe this demand could yet strengthen over the next 12 months.

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company aims to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile platform. Targeting millennials and the underbanked, ChimpChange has been growing its user numbers at a very quick rate over the last 12 months and shows no signs of slowing. I expect the launch of revenue-generating features will result in strong top line growth in FY 2018.

GetSwift Ltd (ASX: GSW)

This delivery management software provider would have to be my pick of the lot. GetSwift aims to streamline a company's logistics through its innovative platform by optimising delivery routes, automating the dispatch process, and providing real-time tracking alerts. Impressively, the company now has clients in over 59 countries and 475 cities, and has achieved this without a salesforce.

Nextdc Ltd (ASX: NXT)

As businesses continue to migrate to the cloud, I believe this leading data centre operator will see demand for its services increase at a strong rate. All in all, I expect this to result in increasing levels of contracted utilisation and ultimately bumper profit growth as its business scales.

Xtek Ltd (ASX: XTE)

This exciting defence technology company is certainly one to watch in FY 2018. After all, it was recently named as the primary contractor in the $100 million LAND 129 Phase 4 program for the supply of drones to the Australian army. Following an oversubscribed placement, the company has almost a quarter of its market capitalisation in cash. With the company cash flow positive, these funds will be used for product commercialisation, development, and to allow it to pursue more and larger contracts in the future.

The post 5 ASX growth shares I would buy in FY 2018 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

An example of this is Altium Limited (ASX: ALU). The fast-growing software-as-a-service company wasn't always a billion-dollar company.

In fact, in 2011 the company had a market capitalisation of just $9 million. A far cry from its $1.1 billion valuation today.

While very few small-cap shares will go on to become as successful as Altium, four which I think could have the potential to grow significantly from here are listed below. Here's why I like them:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company has ambitions to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile platform. Targeting millennials and the underbanked, ChimpChange has been growing its user numbers at a very impressive rate over the last 12 months.

Freelancer Ltd (ASX: FLN)

Based on its number of users and projects, Freelancer is the operator of the world's largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace. At the last count it had over 24 million employers and freelancers using its platform and taking advantage of the growing popularity of the gig economy.

GetSwift Ltd (ASX: GSW)

This delivery management software provider aims to streamline a company's logistics through its innovative platform. Its software optimises delivery routes, automates the dispatch process, and provides real-time tracking alerts. Even without a salesforce GetSwift has been growing strongly and has clients in over 59 countries and 475 cities.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

According to a recent presentation, management estimates that on average 79% of dogs and 65% of cats go to the vet at least once a year. With Australian pet ownership rising to a massive 62% of households, I believe this bodes well for the company and its ever-expanding network of veterinary services businesses.

The post 4 small-cap shares with significant potential appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Three which I believe should be on your watchlist today are as follows:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company aims to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile banking platform. Targeting the millennials and the underbanked, ChimpChange has been growing its customer numbers at an extremely impressive rate over the last two years. Impressively it achieved this growth whilst also reducing its cost of acquisition. At the last count 26% of its customer acquisitions came organically.

National Veterinary Care Ltd (ASX: NVL)

With pet ownership in Australia at high levels, I expect demand for its 54 veterinary practices will remain strong. Especially considering that research shows that 79% of dogs and 65% of cats visit the vet at least once a year. I believe this puts National Veterinary Care in a position to deliver strong organic earnings growth over the next few years. A further bonus for the company is the fragmented veterinary industry. This affords management the opportunity to grow through acquisition.

UUV Aquabotix Ltd (ASX: UUV)

As the name implies, UUV Aquabotix manufactures commercial and industrial grade unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) which can be used in industries including defence, law enforcement, aquaculture, and oil and gas. Yesterday the company announced that its Endura product had been placed on the GSA Schedule. By being on the GSA Schedule it means that procurement managers from various U.S. government agencies can seamlessly make purchases of its product. I believe UUV Aquabotix could have a very bright future ahead of it.

The post Here are 3 small-cap shares with huge potential on my watchlist appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Take for example Altium Limited (ASX: ALU). In 2011 the printed circuit board software provider had a market cap of just $9 million. Fast forward to today and the company has a market value of $1.1 billion and is targeting revenue of US$200 million by 2020.

Of course for every success story there are many failures. But by choosing carefully I believe investors can limit the risks.

With that in mind, here are five small-caps I think are worth looking closely at:

ChimpChange Ltd (ASX: CCA)

This US-based digital banking company is looking to disrupt the American banking system with its mobile platform. Targeting millennials and the underbanked, ChimpChange has been growing its user numbers at an impressive rate over the last 12 months.

Cynata Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: CYP)

I believe this regenerative medicine company could have a bright future thanks to its Cymerus technology. That technology can produce an unlimited number of high quality stem cells at a low cost. Subject to clinical trials, these will then be used to treat numerous diseases including graft versus host disease and cardiovascular disease.

GetSwift Ltd (ASX: GSW)

This exciting delivery management software provider aims to streamline a company's logistics through its innovative platform. Its software optimises delivery routes, automates the dispatch process, and provides real-time tracking alerts. Even without a salesforce GetSwift has been growing strongly and has clients in over 59 countries and 475 cities.

LiveHire Ltd (ASX: LVH)

This talent technology company provides its users with a software platform which creates a pool of pre-qualified job candidates to access when they need to recruit. By doing things this way, it saves recruiters both time and money. LiveHire recently reported an impressive 75% quarter-on-quarter increase in cash receipts thanks to strong demand from big name clients such as Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Bupa.

UUV Aquabotix Ltd (ASX: UUV)

This fledgling company manufactures commercial and industrial grade unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). There are a good number of target markets for its UUVs to be used in, including defence, law enforcement, pipeline inspection, and aquaculture. As a leader in the field with a talented and respected management team, I believe UUV Aquabotix is positioned well to make a big impact in this growing industry.

The post Here are 5 exciting small-cap shares to watch appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.