April summary!

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Photo by Rico Reutimann on Unsplash

In case you missed out on the April episodes of the Voice of FinTech podcast, here is the monthly summary! You can listen to all the episodes on the Episodes pages of this website or when you subscribe to your favorite podcast apps under Subscribe.

Asia Pacific Series with Angela Conroy: Investing in private markets with iSTOX

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In this episode of the Asia Pacific Series, Angela Conroy, co-founder and CEO at Notarum, an awesome RegTech based in Singapore, talks to Oi Yee Choo, Chief Commercial Officer at iSTOX, about enabling access to private markets for investors for whom these opportunities were out of reach previously. iSTOX is the first MAS-licensed integrated issuance, custody and trading platform for digitized securities.

Here is what they talked about:

  • How does iSTOX work? Accredited investors (as per Singapore rules) can invest in hedge funds using iSTOX platform, which breaks down large tickets required by hedge funds and the like into smaller tickets

  • Growing allocation to alternative assets of private markets among investors and the need to make the process more efficient

  • Building a FinTech in Singapore and working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (sandbox)

  • Challenges of ramping up during the pandemic

  • Importance of partnerships when building a platform (e.g., SGX as an investor)

  • Digitization of capital markets

Sustainable Finance with Foraus, a Swiss Foreign Policy think tank

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Nadir Franca, Senior Sustainable Fellow, and Fabian Ligibel, co-lead at Foraus - Sustainable FinTech, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about Sustainable FinTech or Finance.

Here is what they covered:

Thank you Daniel Mika and the Swiss Finance + Technology Association (SFTA) for making it happen!

Foraus is a proud member of the Green Fintech Network Switzerland. Check out the Foraus - Sustainable FinTech for the network's recommendations on how to improve green FinTech in Switzerland.

Lessons learned from two decades of VC investing in Europe - with HV Capital

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Barbod Namini, Partner at HV Capital, an exceptional German-based VC with over a 20-year track record, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about investing in FinTech perhaps longer than the term has been fashionable.

Here is what they covered:

  • HV Capital origins

  • Barbod's journey to HV Capital from Rocket Internet and Citigroup

  • HV Capital investment philosophy

  • How much money they have raised since inception and for how many start-ups?

  • What kind of start-ups HV Capital focuses on investing?

  • What kind of FinTechs HV Capital invests (where in the lifecycle, size, tech, geography, etc.)

  • How do scouting and due diligence work? What are Barbod and HV Capital looking for?

  • How do they cooperate with other actors in the start-up ecosystem?

  • What’s HV Capital's investment approach? E.g., min size of the stake, board seat, time to exit, economics?

  • Success stories of the start-ups HV Capital invested in? Scalable Capital, Penta, SumUp, BUX, Yapily or Solaris Bank in FinTech and more broadly Zalando, HelloFresh or Delivery Hero

  • Reflections on the FinTech’s growth in Europe and the rest of the world over the past two decades since HV Capital has been operational

  • Recommended business book: Essays of Warren Buffett and The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers

  • The best way to reach out

Africa Series with Adejoke Adekunle: Infibranches' vision to close the financial and energy access gap in Africa

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In the first episode of the Voice of FinTech: Africa Series, Adejoke Adekunle, CEO of VVM Group and the founder of the African Tech Woman podcast, based in Lagos, Nigeria, spoke to Olusola Owoyemi, CEO of Infibranches.

Here is what Adejoke asked Olusola:

  • What Infibranches does and what's the origin story?

  • It’s not clear why under-served communities have remained so for the longest time - common assumptions such as “low spending power and economic activities make it rather unattractive to build a business around consumers in these communities - I’m curious! Infibranches seems to have a different view on that and I’d love for you to expand on your thesis about why you are focused on the underserved communities - what aren’t we seeing?

  • What are some of the overlooked opportunities you’ve seen with respect to these communities?

  • What are the common misperceptions about rural communities and consumers who need basic financial services?

  • What are the most important success factors for servicing the last mile consumer in Nigeria?

  • What are the critical challenges in running a business like yours?

  • There’s the saying that every company is a FinTech company, what are your views about that looking at it through the Infibranches lens?

  • I’d like for you to unpack the intersection between FinTech and energy access from an Africa perspective

  • Let’s discuss the big picture for Infibranches, what are the long-term goals you have and where are you today?

  • What’s one thing you are most proud of since running InfiBranches?

  • Beyond Africa, what are your thoughts around scaling up a platform like Omnibranches, their flagship product, beyond the continent?

FinTech M&A lessons with Baker McKenzie

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Lawrence Lee, Partner in Baker McKenzie's Palo Alto office, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about FinTech M&A and other routes to liquidity.

Here is what they talked about:

  • Backstory: How did Lawrence get to do what he does today?

  • Baker McKenzie's approach towards advising FinTechs - M&A or other matters? Does it mean B&M advises only scale-ups or incumbents interested in this space?

  • What are the specifics of the FinTech M&A and any lessons learned you can share?

  • The average time to go public has increased tremendously. As Fintechs grow larger and more mature, what are liquidity and exit options for these companies?

  • Payments and lending were probably the first areas where FinTech grew. Are we bound to witness a significant consolidation wave in this FinTech vertical?

  • SPACs seem to be the favorite buzzword of the day. What are the examples of SPACs operating in the FinTech space?

  • Lawrence also worked as an in-house counsel at Coinbase – what attracted him to switch back to an advisory from a corporate?

  • Let's talk about the recent Bitcoin rise – is it due to diversification because investors are worried about inflation due to Covid government support or anything else?

  • What’s in store for you this year?

  • The most impactful business book for Lawrence is an all-time classic: Barbarians at the Gate. Don't also forget a satirical HBO movie based on this book.

  • What’s the best way to reach out

Americas Series with David Yakobovitch: How to save money on your auto financing with MotoRefi

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David Yakobovitch spoke to Kevin Bennett, CEO of MotoRefi, about auto FinTech, its potential and how MotoRefi helps consumers save money on their car loans.

Here is what they covered:

What MotoRefi is and does

  • Saves consumers $100/month

  • Instant refi on their auto loans

  • Origin story

Auto finance as an underlooked area of fintech

  • Low awareness among consumers

  • Virtually no one was trying to solve this problem

  • HUGE market - $1.3 trillion industry in US alone

  • Self-service API Ecosystem

FinTech for the loans/finance, in particular, is a movement

Growth thus far & recent news

  • Series A1 fundraise

  • 2020 - 6x’d revenue, tripled headcount

  • New office in DC, added new senior hires

Final thought

“Most people’s cars aren’t doing them any favors when it comes to their finances, we’re on a mission to change this.” - MotoRefi CEO Kevin Bennett on overlooked auto FinTech

Financial markets innovation with Boerse Stuttgart

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Ulli Spankowski, Chief Digital Officer at Boerse Stuttgart, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about Boerse Stuttgart's commitment to innovation to provide access to more financial products for retail investors.

Here is what they talked about:

Asia Pacific Series with Angela Conroy: Investing made easy with Sharesies

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Brooke Roberts and the team at Sharesies are aiming to build the most financially empowered generation.

What started as an agreement between 13 friends and family members to deposit $50 a week into a shared investment account laid the foundation stones for Sharesies. Their laser focus on building trust, keeping it real and providing the same access to markets for someone with $5 as someone with $5 million has seen Sharesies go from $0 to $1 billion in assets under management in 4 years.

Listen in to find out how:

  • Sharesies is building confident and motivated investors through education

  • The team of 6 co-founders uses trust to makes it work every day

  • Growing confidence is seeing a change in their customers investing strategies over time

If you have suggestions for topics or guests on the show or have ideas about how to make this podcast better for you, please e-mail us at info@voiceoffintech.com. Alternatively, you can also leave a voicemail here.

Keep safe!

Sincerely,

Rudolf Falat