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 

Voice of FinTech

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

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 

Making early stage investing smarter with AI and data - Penny Schiffer, CEO of Raized.ai

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 

Building a DeFi community with Matthijs de Vries and Anders Christensen from AllianceBlock

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 

Bridging fiat and crypto and improving your payments experience with Petr Kozyakov, CEO of Mercuryo

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!

FinTech 2021 success stories! A critical view by the hosts of Voice of FinTech, recording of the first live show on Fishbowl

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 back story 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? 

Superbid - auctioning off NFTs of memories and experiences with sports personalities and more (e.g. US Open Finalist Leylah Fernandez)

Taneia Bhardwaj, Head of India Consumer Business at Nium, spoke to Priti Rathi Gupta, founder, LXME (financial platform for women). Finance is a feminist issue. And if there's one person who gets it - it is Priti Rathi Gupta - founder of financial planning platform LXME. So much so that she founded LXME intending to bridge that gap between women and Finance.  In this episode of Voice of Fintech, we chat with Priti, to understand how she is inspiring a wave of financially fearless women in India. Here is what Taneia asked Priti: Why did you think that there was a need for a gender-based investment platform? What is the problem that LXME is trying to solve?  Community first, product later approach. You are solving a behavioral issue There's no denying that women's financial lives unfold differently than men. How is LXME designed differently - what is your value proposition?   LXME is building a community of thousands of like-minded women -  how big are it and any learning along the way? A lot of people turning to social media for investment advice. In the last two years, new platforms have created a business out of making investments simpler, quicker, and friction-free- we've even seen gamification for motivation - of financial services is touted as the new frontier for millennials  What is your business model? Plans for LXME 

Asia Pacific Series with Taneia Bhardwaj: Building financial planning platform for women in India with Priti Rathi Gupta, founder of LXME

Daniel Bookstaber VP of Markets at Blockchain.com, leading global provider of crypto and digital assets services, spoke to  Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast about the evolution of blockchain, latest developments, ways to build an institutional business in blockchain, long terms predictions and more!Specifically, here is what they covered: Dan's background and journey to the blockchain / digital assets space Blockchain.com’s mission and activities: from blockchain browser to the digital wallet to lending and derivatives today Dan's mandate at Blockchain.com: building institutional business Blockchain.com's key clients and how their needs differ What's different about Blockchain.com's digital wallets? Trading and lending services – how is Blockchain.com funded and regulated What kind of asset classes can be traded on Blockchain.com?  Thoughts about NFTs Blockchain.com recently acquired AiX - it seemed like a capability play. How does Dan think about organic vs. inorganic growth? Blockchain.com's international ambitions Dan's long term prediction - will we have only a handful of crypto winners that we already know or a new player will emerge and push everyone to the side?  The best way to reach out 

Building an institutional business in blockchain with Blockchain.com's Dan Bookstaber

Nathan Kaiser, General Counsel at SDX (SIX Digital Exchange) in Zurich, Switzerland, spoke to spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about his thoughts on building infrastructure for digital assets, utilizing blockchain, SDX's initiatives internationally and CBDCs.Here  is what they covered in more detail:  Nathan's background and journey to the digital assets space? SDX mission - the problem that SDX is solving. Relationship to SIX. Nathan's mandate at SDX SDX just got the license from FINMA. What does it mean? What services is SDX providing and when? Target clients - SIX members and more What kind of asset classes can be traded using SDX infrastructure now and in the future SDX entered into a Singapore-based joint exchange venture with SBI Holdings. What are SDX's international ambitions? Why do we need CBDCs?  How is SDX involved in CBDCs development? SNB, BIS and BdF test The best way to reach out and find out more about SDX Thank you Daniel Mika and the Swiss Finance + Technology Association (SFTA) for making it happen!

Building regulated digital market infrastructure with SDX (SIX Digital Exchange)'s General Counsel, Nathan Kaiser

Donna Griffit, corporate storyteller and pitch alchemist for start-ups, spoke to spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about why it pays off to pay attention to your storyline when you pitch for funding, what to include and what to avoid and a lot more!  Here is what you will learn: Donna's backstory: from acting to corporate storytelling What is corporate storytelling? How not to be boring in business! Why is it important? How should a good storyline look like?  How do you build it? How do you deliver it? Focusing on the founders, what do investors talk about after the pitch?  What does it mean, fundraising Silicon Valley-style? What are the few biggest mistakes start-ups make in their pitches? What must be in the pitch deck? What’s different if you are fundraising as a woman? Check out further resources from Donna on her website here and get a discount for the Voice of FinTech listeners What’s the best way to reach out? 

The art of pitching right with Donna Griffit, corporate storyteller and pitch alchemist for start-ups

In this episode of the Americas Series, David Yakobovitch spoke to Orlando Zayas, CEO of Katapult, about how pandemic has changed the way we shop, Katapult's role in the value chain, alternative credit scoring, and BNPL, and on going public with the SPAC Finserv.  The pandemic transformed the way we shop forever: eCommerce rapidly expanded; it would have taken 5-10 years to reach its point today without the pandemic. Online shopping and BOPIS (buy online and pick up in-store) is a purchasing trend expected to become permanent. What people are buying has changed also; people are spending more money on electronics, home goods, and appliances while clothing and apparel decreases. Buying power also changed during the pandemic:Buying power changed overnight, lenders immediately tightened up, and even prime customers were denied financing. Beyond the pandemic, non-prime consumers don’t have the same buying power as prime consumers; they need options. For prime consumers, when lenders tighten up, you need to have other options. AI & Machine Learning: AI & ML are forever changing all of the technology, including fintech. We can gather a massive amount of data, and after analyzing, we continue to optimize our behavior model (Katapult’s proprietary scoring model). Our Katapult score continues to outperform the fraud point score by a third-party-the-shelf model. The ability to now gather data with AI & ML enhances the user experience and allows lenders to assess risk models better. BNPL is growing as rapidly as eCommerce:BNPL has expanded amid the pandemic as people found they needed additional financing options and retailers needed to capture a new segment of customers. Katapult focuses on the nonprime customer, which is one of our differentiating factors from Affirm, Klarna, etc.   Going public via a merger with SPAC Finserv: The decision to go public now and what the process has been like from a virtual perspective. Orlando’s approach to revenue growth: Orlando joined the company in 2017 when revenue was at 17M and closed 2020 at almost 200M. Hiring the right people, make sure you have a CFO you can trust,  keeping the “dumb” list of all the things to stop, having a vision is great, but you need to have a foundation and strategy to achieve your vision. 

Americas Series with David Yakobovitch: How FinTech can make retail purchases more inclusive with Katapult's CEO, Orlando Zayas

Stefan Klauser, co-founder and CEO of Aisot, spoke to Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about how to make traders' performance better using new technology.Here is what they talked about: Stefan's interest in entrepreneurship even though he started working as a diplomat at the Swiss Embassy in the US and then a researcher at ETH Very first steps of Aisot Why do we need predictive analytics for trading How good is the technology today How does it relate to or differ from algo trading Who are Aisot's target customers? Business model Where are you on your journey in terms of product development, geographic reach, funding, hiring? Any numbers you can share?  Key milestones ahead of Aisot, Stefan and his team The best way to reach out 

Predictive analytics for trading with Aisot's CEO and co-founder Stefan Klauser

In this episode of Africa Series, Stacey Japhta, Head of Strategic FinTech Partnerships at Talent in the Cloud, an emerging markets FinTech executive search firm and host of Talking success podcast, spoke to Tim Nuy, founder and CEO at Finclusion Group and Matsi Modise, its Non-Executive Chair about how to improve financial inclusion through using alternative credit score data, Finclusion's mission, Matsi's governance experience and more! Check out the King Report on Governance in South Africa if you are interested in how boards should be run!

Africa Series with Stacey Japhta: Improving financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa through data driven lending with Finclusion

Luba Schoenig and Tonia Zimmermann, co-founders of Umushroom, an interactive investment platform and community, spoke to  Rudolf Falat, founder of the Voice of FinTech podcast, about how community and technology can make your investment process smoother and smarter.Here is what they talked about: What is UMushroom?  How did you get to do what you do today?  Umushroom is an interactive investment platform – why is it needed and why now? How does it contrast with having a good relationship (or investment advisor) manager at my bank?  How do you define superior performance from using your platform? What’s the technology behind it?  Who are Umushroom's target customers Where is Umushroom on its journey in terms of product development, geographic reach, funding, hiring?  The best way to reach out 

Investing smartly with Umushroom's co-founders Luba Schoenig and Tonia Zimmermann

In this episode of the Americas Series, David Yakobovitch spoke to Deep Varma, CTO at Varo Bank about the technology edge of FinTechs vs incumbents and how that translates to customers first approach that works and it's not just a PR slogan.Here is what they covered: How Varo’s technology-centric approach allowed the bank to stay focused on its mission and purpose Technology advantage of FinTechs over traditional banks Not good vs. bad, but challenges of managing a legacy architecture How banks' technology stacks are keeping them from being truly customer-centric Compare Varo’s approach and how technology allows it to put customer needs first How do you build and scale a tech organization - what kind of people do you need, when is the right time to think about technology implementation, etc. How you think about technology differently when you are building from the ground up Why it’s so important to stay truthful to your mission and purpose and to focus on customers. How technology can play a role in those efforts Key advice to founders: who and why you are serving your customers 

Americas Series with David Yakobovitch: FinTech vs. traditional bank - the technology advantage with Deep Varma, CTO at Varo Bank

Mapping out Swiss and European FinTech ecosystem. Aiming to inspire entrepreneurs to launch their new ventures and connect them with incubators, accelerators, investors and incumbents.

hubhopper

Voice of FinTech

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