Semih is among the investors who will be sharing his insights on “what’s next in European FinTech” at the FinTech Forum 2021 – 18th Nov. 2021 at the Airport Club, Frankfurt Airport /hybrid. Check out the agenda and register here: http://ftf2021.eventbrite.com
1. Please tell us a bit about yourself, both at work and leisure
My name is Semih Kacan, and I am Investment Manager at Swisscom Ventures. I’ve joined Swisscom Ventures at the beginning of 2021 to strengthen the Fintech and Blockchain allocation in the portfolio. Prior to Swisscom Ventures I spent over 10 years in Strategy Consulting, Corporate Strategy, Business Development and Asset Management at Credit Suisse, BearingPoint and Haspa before I co-founded and successfully exited my venture in Zurich. I hold a Master Degree in Corporate Finance from Henley Business School.
I enjoy the time with friends and family and a cup of coffee on sunny days at the beautiful Zurich Lake but also like reading books and watching videos to educate myself about upcoming trends/technologies.
2. What are your focus areas, overall and within the FinTech space?
Primarily I’m focused on Fintech, Video-Gaming and Sports. In the FinTech space I’m looking for B2B Enterprise SaaS models in Digital Assets Infrastructure, Embedded Finance, Banking as a Service, WealthTech as well as Gaming (incl. DeFi, Web 3.0).
3. Any recent deals that you would like to share with us, and why you invested?
There are a couple of deals in the blockchain/crypto space that we are currently working on which I can share now. A recent deal that I’ve worked on and that is already public is our follow-on investment in Fireblocks – the leading digital custody tech-provider – who has recently raised its Series D and is now valued at $2.2bn.
4. Which are the key trends to watch out for in the next 6-18 months?
The crypto space will remain hot – especially driven by the increasing institutional adoption and their need for infrastructure solutions. Also, DeFi at the intersection to NFT and Gaming are worth watching out for. 2nd Layer solutions will continue to drive volumes in DeFi as they will lower transaction fees and support the ease of use (via Apps)
5. Your advice to European founders looking to scale up and raise funds?
Plan, execute and listen to your customers. Be driven and obsessed with your product/solution. For SaaS companies its important to be on top of their key metrics and unit economics.
Otherwise, just get in touch with me and my colleagues. We are always interested in disruptive start-ups and genius founders.
6. What’s on your bookshelf/ reading list?
Increasing returns to scale by Brian Arthur
7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer
7. Your favorite place for a coffee and/ or a drink?
If you ever visit Hamburg, I can recommend you the Bar called “Strandperle” located directly opposite of the port at the beach “Elbstrand”. You can enjoy your cold beer while watching huge container ships passing by just 20 Meter away from you.