18 Oct FinTech50 2015 kicked-off with stunning pitches and great networking
Last Thursday Holland FinTech visited the kick-off of the FinTech50 2015, hosted by UBS. The FinTech50 is created and organised by the London based FinTech City and promotes FinTech all over Europe.
A team of experts each year selects the annual best in class to join the FinTech 50 list. The organisers, Julie Lake and Nicky Cotter made sure networking involved everyone, present. It was really hard not to go home with a useful connection, since many top investors, great startups and global brands were present. The event was made up of three panel discussions and some startup pitches, as a preview of the 2015 selection.
The first ”Super funders” panel consisted of Ocopus Ventures, Index Ventures, Balderton Capital, Silicon Valley Bank, Aquiline Capital Partners, Expansive ventures and Accell partners.
The panel had very interesting discussions with tips for FinTech startups on raising funding. One of the main conclusions was that funding is still very hard at early stages. As off series Bmore venture capital is available. It also became clear that payment innovation is driven by a much larger market than capital market innovation, and hence the interest of venture capital is equally larger in that area.
The second panel consisted of the FinTech “superbrands” Funding Circle, Currency cloud, Due Dil, Nutmeg and Transferwise. These companies have all had their share of experience in FinTech entrepreneurship and made for a lively discussion in dealing with regulators and financial institutions.
Thirdly, “Global superbrands” Google, Microsoft, Fiserv, Ensygnia, Moneysupermarket and London Stock Exchange discussed their interest in FinTech sector developments. They see innovations coming from Fintech especially as interesting for providing seamless customer experiences. Their vision is that developments in Fintech will only accelerate from now on.
After a break, the room was made ready for the startup pitches from 10 of the FinTech50 2015 applicants. The companies: Credit Benchmark, cFinancials, investUP, Insly, Friendly Score, Bux, PayFriendz, Investment Intelligence and Symetrics really had their act together. Great pitches, great inspiration!
The Dutch were well represented, with three Dutch founders on stage (cFinancials, Bux and Symetrics). An impressive list of startups, showing that there is a good base for expanding Holland FinTech.
In the future Holland FinTech will definitely work together with FinTech City to increase exposure for European FinTech companies. We are thankful that Julie and Nicky make such a effort to support FinTech. They have set the standard with this great event!
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