Kicking off with a networking lunch, the event – streamed digitally to participants who could not make it in person – started with Samarth Shekhar, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, summarising the European FinTech scene’s record funding volumes and deals of note this year.
This was followed by the first round of startup presentations (Aazzur, aisot, ALLINDEX and Delega – check out the “startups in a tweet” below). David Schaeffler from Hannover Digital Investments / Talanx and Cynthia Nadal of SeedX Liechtenstein covered the trends to watch in InsurTech and FinTech respectively.
Daragh Hanratty of IDA Ireland provided an overview of how Ireland’s agencies can help leading FinTechs and financial institutions scale, following which we made time for a short coffee break.
The 2nd round of startup presentations (QuickCashAI, Insaas.ai, Vermögensheld and Wequity) set the scene for some interesting discussions around ESG for startups and VC firms to follow.
Ertan Can from Multiple Capital shared a fascinating account of his journey setting up one of the first European Fund of Funds, which has invested into 500 ventures via 30 micro VC funds across Europe and the US.
Theresa Bardubitzki of KfW Capital brought the ESG topic front and centre, sharing key results from the recently published study of BCG and KfW Capital, the regulatory pressure that is driving alignment to ESG across LPs, GPs and startups, as well as providing answers to practical questions from the audience.
The final session was a panel discussion conducted virtually with San Francisco-based May Wang of FinVC and Zürich-based Semih Kacan of Swisscom Ventures, who shared their key themes and opportunity areas to watch and invest in – including B2B players assisting the move to the cloud and remote working; B2B startups supporting other FinTech startups to connect to other parts of the financial services landscape as well as to the cloud; and the rise of DeFi, NFT, Cryptocurrencies and Web 3.0.
The event concluded with Frank Schwab, Co-Founder of FinTech Forum, bringing together the audience on some of the concrete insights and next steps from the discussions around ESG through the day, followed by a networking session.
Check out some photos and social media updates from the event below.
Startup Pitches – Round 1
AAZZUR Create fully-customised and branded mobile banking apps within just 6 to 10 weeks using their Smart Finance Blocks.
aisot real-time insights for trading and asset management for data-driven decision-making.
ALLINDEX SaaS solution helping asset managers, banks etc. create and back-test direct indexing solutions tailored to themes (e.g. ESG) or tax savings.
Delega Helps corporates and their banks digitise and manage signatory rights via an end-to-end workflow solution.
Startup Pitches – Round 2
QuickCashAI SaaS platform for 20x faster AI-driven, paperless SME lending automation and credit risk assessment.
Insaas.ai next generation market research to understand consumers and power personalised financial services.
Vermögensheld gaming-driven financial education and wealth advice “as a service” for the digital generation.
Wequity “be the first to know the ESG risks of your investments” – real-time AI-powered insights from news & social media.
astorya.vc Retweeted a Tweet you were mentioned in
Excited to be back in Frankfurt for the 2021 @FinTechForum_DE I will be speaking at 16:00, sharing the #openbanking #baas #intuitivebanking #iaas model @Aazzur_ has to offer. #buildsmartbanking @MartinDamaske @rrrrunger @FrankJSchwab https://pic.twitter.com/AKHipDw23u
Maria Pennanen@PennanenMaria 20h
Great crowd, interesting startups = overall amazing event! Thank you
@FrankJSchwab & @SamarthShekharS @FinTechForum_DE #FTF2021 #startup #investing #funding
Accelerator Frankfurt @accelerator_ffm 22h
It’s #live #FTF2021 @SamarthShekharS presenting the crazy #investment boom of this year! Seed #funding is hit topic apart of the big #unicorn rounds. #startup #seed #3D
Lukas Sieber liked your Tweet
Countdown to next Thursday, 18th Nov. as FinTech Forum returns to its physical roots – the Airport Club Frankfurt – where @FrankJSchwab and I have had the privilege of hosting European FinTech success stories at their earliest stages (and their investors)…https://lnkd.in/dXyK2Xmw
Enjoyable being back FinTech Forum Airport Club Frankfurtafter a 2 year absence. Thanks Frank Schwab and Samarth Shekhar for the opportunity to speak about the fintech ecosystem in Ireland and how IDA supports companies to setup or expand in Ireland.
