October summary!
Zurich, Switzerland
In case you missed out on the October 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.
Superbid — auctioning off NFTs of memories and experiences with sports personalities and more (e.g. US Open Finalist Leylah Fernandez)
Wojciech Sobczuk, co-founder and CTO at Superbid.io, an NFT experiences and memories auction site, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast about the NFTs, Superbid’s approach and focus on tennis, movie and gaming personalities, blockchain protocols in the background and more!
In more detail, here is what they talked about:
Wojtek’s backstory and entrepreneurial journey to Superbid
What is Superbid? Auction site for experiences and memories to help tennis, movie, and gaming personalities to engage better with their fans
What are NFTs? Are they related solely to online memorabilia or also offline experiences?
How does one know there is only a limited supply of NFTs related to an item?
How are they stored so they don’t get hacked?
Which blockchain protocol does Superbid use in the background?
How can you sell my NFTs?
Why focusing on tennis?
Tell us about the recent campaign you had with your Ambassador, Leylah Fernandez. How did you come up with an idea and made it happen? How was it to work with her?
Can you give us a glimpse of what else you are preparing to auction off on your platform?
What’s the best way to reach out and find out more about Superbid?
FinTech 2021 success stories! A critical view by the hosts of Voice of FinTech, live on Fishbowl
Rudolf Falat, the founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast and David Yakobovitch, our New York-based host, took a critical view on the FinTech success stories of the year in their first live show on Fishbowl. They talked about the latest FinTech trends, such as an increased focus on financial literacy, digital payments, autonomous Finance, specialty payroll solutions, and digital-only banks.
Then they dissected the largest FinTech M&A deals, in the US and around the world, including FinTechs being bought by incumbents or FinTechs buying other FinTechs.
They also discussed the latest blockchain and crypto developments, including the rise of NFTs. To sum up, they also talked about the FinTech fundraising volumes, many large rounds and an increasing list of unicorns featured on the Voice of FinTech!
Bridging fiat and crypto and improving your payments experience with Petr Kozyakov, CEO of Mercuryo
Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of Mercuryo spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast about bridging traditional Finance (fiat currency) and crypto to enable users to switch seamlessly between fiat and crypto and improve the payments experience.
In more detail, here is what they talked about:
Petr’s journey from traditional payments to crypto
How does crypto fit into the old world, the legacy world of Finance?
What’s the problem Mercuryo is solving?
What are the concrete benefits of crypto over current payment infrastructure or other emerging new payment rails?
How safe and secure are the interfaces (crypto to fiat, crypto wallet to exchange, etc.)?
Which cryptocurrencies can Mercuryo support?
How does Mercuryo support nascent NFT markets?
Key markets
Business model
A recent blog article is called “Mercuryo: The Place To Be For Women in Tech”. Why is it important?
The next major milestones
The best way to reach out
Building a DeFi community with Matthijs de Vries and Anders Christensen from AllianceBlock
Matthijs de Vries, founder & CTO and Anders Christensen, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Head of Ecosystem at AllianceBlock, shared their insights on growing the blockchain and decentralized Finance community and solutions with Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast.
Below are the salient points of their conversation:
Matthijs and Anders’ intertwined journeys
Identifying the problem to be solved
How their solution works
Traditional Finance vs. DeFi
Target clients
Blockchain protocols supported by AllianceBlock
Leveraging AI technology and Machine Learning
How can a newcomer break into this space
AllianceBlock and regulation
The best response to bankers saying you will always need humans to organize fundraising?
Upcoming key milestones/product map
Knowing the best way to reach out and find out more
Making early stage investing smarter with AI and data — Penny Schiffer, CEO of Raized.ai
Penny Schiffer, CEO and co-founder of Raized.ai, a Swiss-based start-up determined to make early-stage investing smarter using data, AI and analytics, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast about the pain points in the early-stage investing for investors and start-ups, how to address them using technology, product development and fundraising approach and more.
Here is the exciting story of Penny and smart VC (or early-stage) investing:
Penny’s journey from Accenture and Swisscom to the startup world
Pain points in VC investing?
Every VC firm would like to find the best startups earlier; many rely on their network and inbound ideas. So why is it not enough?
Startups love to work with efficient partners: how can their communication about potential fundraising with VCs be improved.
Many investors stay that early-stage investing is more about backing a team rather than an idea. So how does an AI solution can help assess the team?
Word of advice for startups approaching VCs and pitching to raise funds
Alternatives to VC funding (clients, angels, grants)
Raized.ai’s solution — a B2B SaaS company
Where is Raized.ai on its journey in terms of product development and funding
What are the following milestones ahead of you? I hear that you are hiring?
Best way to reach out if you are interested in becoming a client, investor or want to join Raized.ai’s team
Asia Pacific Series with Chia Jeng Yang 谢征阳: Building payments infrastructure in South East Asia with Y-Combinator backed Arrow’s CEO Neo Liat Beng
In this episode of Voice of FinTech: Asia Pacific Series, Chia Jeng Yang, Principal of Saison Capital based in Singapore, spoke to Neo Liat Beng, founder of Arrow, building one-click check out experience across South East Asia.
Here is what you can learn from their conversation:
What is it like building payments infrastructure in Southeast Asia
Neo’s experience building start-ups as a Southeast Asia founder and ex-Fintech Executive
Neo’s journey building the Fast / Bolt of Southeast Asia
Smart contracts and AI in modeling business with Andreas von Estorff, CEO of ModelManagement.com
Andreas von Estorff, a serial entrepreneur, advisor, and CEO of ModelManagement.com, spoke to Rudolf Falat about digitizing the modeling business through smart contracts, AI and more.
The following are just a few of the many fascinating topics they have brought to our attention:
Andreas’s background and how he got to lead ModelManagement.com
Payment issues in the modeling business
The role of platforms like ModelManagement.com in contracts between models and clients
Facilitating the adoption of smart contracts in the modeling world and its challenges
Operational solution for smart contracts / best blockchain protocol for smart contracts
Leading the digital transformation of the modeling world beyond smart contracts
Potential for virtual or augmented reality in modeling
Andreas opinion about 3D modeling and changes to in-person modeling like catwalks, showrooms after the pandemic
How to reach and find out about ModelManagement.com
Rudolf Falat, the founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast and David Yakobovitch, our New York-based host, took a critical view on the FinTech success stories of the year in their latest live show on Fishbowl. They talked about rapid growth and regulatory backlash of N26, FinTech M&A (e.g., Revolut and HRTech), BNP scale-up strategies of Square and Klarna, quantum computing, CBDCs in Nigeria, incumbents like HSBC getting into BaaS with Oracle and more!
You can now also follow them on Fishbowl, just search for Rudolf Falat or David Yakobovitch so you don't miss the next session, scheduled for November 30!
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,