Going Dutch
Holland Fintech participated in a session about The Netherlands as a springboard for Israeli Fintech. This event was organised by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency and Fintech Aviv - Holland Fintechs ‘sister’ abroad. Many fintechs have stepped into the Dutch launch pad, like homegrown Adyen and Mollie, who were a part of one of the panels. Overall, members of Holland Fintech, like Tink, Plaid and Modulr are having a growth base in Amsterdam.
Why the Netherlands? We have lots of international tech talent living here, or wanting to move and live aside our canals. These points were strongly addressed by the role of fintechs in the panel. Plus, if you are looking for a license then there is a ‘orange carpet’ service towards the regulators, associations like NFIA and Holland Fintech can help with introductions. A wise advice was shared to partner up with a local professional like NautaDutilh who shared their experience with a.o. helping Rewire get their E money license.
There is lots of expertise in the Dutch market, especially in payments, with knowledgeable regulators and experienced founders of leading fintechs who might be willing to help you get kickstarter or accelerated. You can all find them in the Holland Fintech Network where for 2022 we are set to offer curated matchmaking services.
One argument stood out for Israeli and Dutch matchmaking. We are both looking beyond our borders to grow, are open and direct. This directness means efficiency or “a getting things done mindset.” On that note the title of the event was funny. ‘Going Dutch’ is also a saying for splitting the bill. Yes, we Dutch can propose that during a business lunch! Side note: Tikkie, the p2p payment request service is one of the biggest fintech successes of a bank in the Netherlands.
We can conclude there is a cultural match and springboard in place for many fintech topics to accelerate. In both panels the opportunity areas were discussed where all agreed: There is much potential and need for Financial Inclusion and Sustainability. So if you have a solution in hand, come to the Netherlands and let’s scale because there is a limit to the extent we can split bills with our planet’s resources.
