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On today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Tim Levene, Co-Founder & CEO of Augmentum Fintech. Augmentum invests in fast-growing fintechs disrupting financial services and is the UK's only publicly listed investment company focusing fintech in Europe. Launched on the London Stock Exchange in 2018, Augmentum gives businesses access to patient capital and support unrestricted by conventional fund timelines. This structure also gives public market investors access to a largely privately held investment sector during its main period of growth. Their portfolio of 19 fintech companies includes Tide, interactive investor, iwoca, Zopa, Monese, BullionVault and Farewill. In this episode, we discuss: - Getting started in a fledgling EU VC & Entrepreneurship Scene - The Decision to go Public as a VC - Why fintechs stay private and how it hurts the public investor - His portcos and some he's kept his eye on including "death services" …and more Tim Levene is Co-Founder and CEO of Augmentum Fintech plc. As well as being an active fintech investor, Tim is an experienced entrepreneur, having also co-founded juice bar business Crussh and betting exchange Flutter.com, the latter of which became one of the highest-profile internet businesses in the UK after it merged with Betfair.com. Tim subsequently served as Commercial Director of Betfair. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Emmalyn Shaw, Managing Partner at Flourish, a $500 M global venture fund whose investments leverage technology to advance financial health and economic resilience. Emmalyn co-manages the fund and leads its US investment efforts. She has 20 years of technology investing experience, working closely with entrepreneurs to build large-scale businesses. In this extensive interview, Emmalyn shares: • Flourish's goal of advancing financial health and how it grew out of Omidyar Network's impact mission • How Flourish identifies investment themes as well as specific companies to invest in • Portfolio companies that Emmalyn is especially excited about, and how they are helping consumers during COVID-19 • FinTech’s role in helping consumers overcome the financial challenges they are facing • Advice that Emmalyn has for those building careers as venture capitalists and/or entrepreneurs Prior to Flourish, Emmalyn was a Managing Partner at Omidyar Network where she co-managed the financial inclusion team. She joined Omidyar from Oak Investment Partners, where she was a venture partner. Prior to that, Emmalyn held roles at VantagePoint Partners and Barksdale Group. She began her career at Morgan Stanley and MSCI Barra. Emmalyn holds an MBA from Wharton and a BA from University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. When not with entrepreneurs, Emmalyn enjoys time with her husband and six kids.
In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Hanif Joshaghani, Co-Founder & CEO of Symend. Symend is a Calgary-based FinTech helping transform the impersonal, outdated, and inefficient problem of debt collections across the world. Symend's digital engagement platform combines behavioral science, AI and machine learning to provide a simple, personalized experience that empowers customers to take desired actions while improving outcomes and collector KPIs. Demand has only increased during COVID, where Symend has helped numerous companies personally engage each customer depending on his or her unique situation. Hanif shares how his own experiences as a child inspired him to create Symend, how the product works, how he spotted COVID back in January, and how he raised $52 million virtually. Hanif is serieal entrepreneur who is passionate about building high performing teams that deliver results for clients. Hanif's background includes 15 years of senior roles in capital markets, energy finance, business development and entrepreneurship in a broad range of industries including investment banking, energy and technology. He has raised about $100MM across the four companies he has founded with several exits to date. Hanif is also passionate about helping other entrepreneurs and is an active angel investor in several technologies companies. Hanif received his BA in Economics from UChicago and an MBA from the University of Toronto - Rotman School of Management. For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/
In this episode, Miguel Armaza is joined by Prajit Nanu, CEO and Co-Founder of NIUM, a global fintech platform that aims to break currency borders by allowing businesses and consumers to send, spend and receive funds anywhere in the world. Founded in 2014, Nium now has hundreds of employees around the world and has attracted investment from industry leaders, including Beacon Venture Capital, MDI Ventures, Vertex Growth, Visa Ventures, and Rocket Internet. Prajit Nanu, Co-Founder and CEO of NIUM Prajit Nanu is the Co-Founder and CEO of NIUM, a global financial technology platform that aims to break currency borders by empowering businesses and consumers to send, spend and receive funds anywhere in the world in a more convenient and transparent way. Based in the company’s headquarters in Singapore, Prajit is responsible for expanding the company’s geographic reach and establishing NIUM as a leading financial technology platform all over the world. He oversees not just NIUM’s B2B arm of the business, but also its B2C platform InstaReM, powered by NIUM’s technology. Prajit is also responsible for driving innovation in key markets that NIUM has offices in, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States of America. Prior to co-founding InstaReM and eventually, NIUM, Prajit held leadership positions in various global organizations. He was the Global Sales Director at TMF Group, a multinational professional services firm headquartered in Amsterdam, and was the Vice President of Sales and Account Management at WNS Global Services, a business process management company. Prajit holds a Bachelor’s in Commerce & Economics from the University of Mumbai.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Adolfo Babatz, Founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for small and medium businesses to accept digital payments. Founded in 2012, Clip now has more than 400 employees across Mexico and the US and has raised close to $150 million in equity from leading investors, including SoftBank, General Atlantic, Google for Startups Accelerator, and Angel Ventures. Adolfo Babatz Adolfo is the founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for SMBs to accept digital payments. The company currently has more than 400 employees in different offices located in Salt Lake City, California, Utah, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Before Clip, Adolfo was responsible for Customer Engagement and New Product Development for PayPal Latin America. Before moving into the Engagement team, Adolfo led the team that opened PayPal in Mexico. Right before PayPal, Adolfo studied an MBA at MIT where he specialized in Entrepreneurship & Economics of Information. Previously, Adolfo worked as an advisor to the Executive Vice President of Grupo Desc, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Mexico and shortly thereafter, was part of the founding team of The Carlyle Group Mexico, where he worked as an analyst. Adolfo Babatz Adolfo is the founder and CEO of Clip, the leading solution in Mexico for SMBs to accept digital payments. The company currently has more than 400 employees in different offices located in Salt Lake City, California, Utah, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Before Clip, Adolfo was responsible for Customer Engagement and New Product Development for PayPal Latin America. Before moving into the Engagement team, Adolfo led the team that opened PayPal in Mexico. Right before PayPal, Adolfo studied an MBA at MIT where he specialized in Entrepreneurship & Economics of Information. Previously, Adolfo worked as an advisor to the Executive Vice President of Grupo Desc, one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Mexico and shortly thereafter, was part of the founding team of The Carlyle Group Mexico, where he worked as an analyst. Clip Clip is Mexico’s leading solutions for SMBs to accept digital payments. Clip transformed card acceptance in Mexico by offering different models of portable card-reading hardware to accept all credit and debit cards as well as other payment options. The company is focused on empowering Mexican businesses via a set of tools designed to increase merchant’s sales and help them manage their business. The company currently offers hardware products and other solutions to help merchants thrive. For more information visit www.clip.mx Clip is a financial technology startup based in Mexico City (MEX) and Silicon Valley (USA).
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Oliver Hughes, CEO of Tinkoff Bank- the leading Neobank in Russia and one of the largest fintechs in the world. The Tinkoff ecosystem offers a full range of financial services for individuals and businesses and has evolved into one of the largest super-apps of the region. Listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as the Moscow Stock Exchange, Tinkoff has a Market Cap of nearly $5 Billion with an ROE of 59%. Oliver Hughes, Tinkoff CEO At Tinkoff, Oliver Hughes is heading the team that is building Russia's leading financial ecosystem. He joined Tinkoff as CEO in 2007 right at the start of the project and has been at the helm every step of the way, helping Tinkoff grow into the world's largest independent digital bank with 11 m customers. Before joining Tinkoff, Oliver worked for Visa International for a decade, including as Head of Visa in Russia from 2005 until 2007. Prior to Visa, he held various positions including at Reebok, Shell UK and the British Library. Oliver holds a Master of Arts degree in International Politics from Leeds University and a Master of Science degree in Information Management and Technology from City University in London. He also has a Bachelor of Arts (First Class) degree in Russian and French from the University of Sussex. Tinkoff Ecosystem Tinkoff is an online financial ecosystem centred around the needs of its customers. The Tinkoff ecosystem offers a full range of financial services for individuals and businesses. With a focus on lifestyle banking, the Tinkoff ecosystem enables customers to assess and plan personal spending, invest their savings, earn loyalty programme bonuses, book trips, buy movie tickets, make restaurant reservations and much more. All Tinkoff services are accessible via our mobile applications and on the Tinkoff.ru website. The Tinkoff ecosystem is branchless: its proprietary network of smart couriers can deliver the Company’s products anywhere in Russia in the shortest time span possible, and customer service is handled online and by call centres (both office and cloud-based). Tinkoff makes active use of AI and machine learning technologies to streamline communications: over 30% of customers' chat queries are resolved with no employee involvement. All Tinkoff products and most of its IT systems have been developed in-house. Some 70% of the bank’s HQ staff are IT specialists. At the core of the ecosystem is Tinkoff Bank, which was founded in 2006 and has since become one of the world’s biggest independent direct banks with over 10 million customers. In 2018, Global Finance named Tinkoff Bank the world’s Best Consumer Digital Bank, in 2019, 2018, 2016 and 2015, the Best Consumer Digital Bank in Russia, and in 2019, the Best Consumer Digital Bank in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2017 and 2013, the Banker recognised Tinkoff Bank as the Bank of the Year in Russia. The bank’s parent company — TCS Group Holding PLC — has been listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange. The 9M 2019 IFRS net income of TCS Group Holding PLC amounted to RUB 25.1 bn. The ROE was 59%.
Miguel Armaza sits down with Lex Greensill, founder and CEO of Greensill Capital, a leading provider of working capital and supply chain finance solutions for businesses and individuals around the world. Founded in 2011, Greensill employs over 1,000 people worldwide and has raised close to $1.3 billion in equity from some of the largest funds in the industry, including SoftBank and General Atlantic. Lex Greensill Lex Greensill, Co-founder and CEO of Greensill Capital, saw first-hand the impact that an inefficient financial supply chain can have on a family’s finances, growing up on his parents’ sugar cane farm in Australia. Farming sugar cane is highly inefficient when it comes to working capital and getting paid. It takes up to 18 months to grow the crop and then another 12 months to get paid for it. Lex’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to university. He clerked at a country law firm, studied law at by correspondence at night and worked pro-bono for the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association with a brief to make sure farmers got paid promptly. That principle, and the payment code Lex devised for farmers in Australia, became the foundation of Greensill that still guides the company today. Lex’s vision was always to make finance fairer for everybody. As a business, Greensill is harnessing its technology and financial expertise to accelerate the movement of cash into the real economy. Lex previously established the global SCF business at Morgan Stanley and led the EMEA SCF business at Citi. Lex holds an MBA from Manchester Business School and is a Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of England and Wales, and Queensland. In 2018, Lex was awarded the CBE for services to the UK economy. About Greensill Greensill makes access to finance faster, cheaper and fairer. Powered by financial technology but with deep expertise in credit management, we accelerate the movement of capital to where it is needed most, in the real economy. And through our vision of equal access to finance, we want to revolutionise the world of work, so no-one should have to wait to be paid. Greensill is the market-leading provider of working capital finance for businesses and people globally. Our more than 800 specialists worldwide have provided $143bn of financing in 2019 to more than 8m customers and suppliers in over 175 countries.
In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Jay Bregman, Founder and CEO of Thimble, an on-demand insurance startup for small businesses and independent workers. Thimble is the first company to offer on-demand insurance by the hour, day, or month to cover the 57 million people who work independently in the US. Jay is an accomplished entrepreneur who previously founded two successful startups, including Hailo, a London-based ridesharing company backed acquired by Daimler Mercedes-Benz in 2016. Jay Bregman Jay Bregman is the Cofounder and CEO of Thimble, an on-demand insurance partner for small businesses and independent workers. An innovator in the $100 billion small business insurance market, Thimble is the first and only company to offer on-demand insurance by the hour, day or month to cover the 57 million people who work independently. Thimble has raised over $29 million from top investors including IAC. Bregman is an accomplished entrepreneur who previously founded Hailo, a London-based ridesharing company backed acquired by Daimler Mercedes-Benz in 2016. Earlier, he founded and sold a technology-enabled services company to Royal Mail, the U.K. equivalent of USPS. Bregman holds a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Bachelor’s Degree from Dartmouth College. About Thimble Thimble's mission is to make insurance simple, to help businesses succeed on their own terms. Its flexible insurance policies are designed with small businesses in mind, who face great uncertainty in normal times, and are now on the road to economic recovery. Available by-the-month or for as little as one hour, Thimble coverage takes less than one minute to obtain and can be scaled up, adjusted or paused at any time. Thimble has sold over 100,000 policies representing over $125B in coverage since launching in 2016. Founded by Jay Bregman and Eugene Hertz, Thimble is based in New York City and has raised over $29 million in funding from IAC and other top firms. All General Liability and Professional Liability policies are underwritten by Markel Insurance Company. For more information, visit www.thimble.com.
In our latest podcast, Peter Jankovsky (WG'20) is joined by Chris Sugden, Managing Partner of Edison Partners. Edison Partners is a 32-year old tech investment firm specializing in fintech, healthcare, IT, and enterprise solutions with $1.6 B in AUM. Chris leads the firm's FinTech practice and has led 32 financings including 20 new investments and has served as a Director of 21 companies. In this extensive interview, Chris shares: • Edison's storied history investing in growth equity and the unique value it brings to entrepreneurs through Edison Edge • What he looks for when investing in entrepreneurs • Edison portfolio companies that are innovating across consumer banking, asset management, regtech, and payments • His views on the key themes shaping FinTech, including the impact of COVID-19 Prior to Edison, Chris held several roles at start-ups and began his career at PwC.
In this episode, Miguel Armaza is joined by Daniel Yu, Founder and CEO of Sokowatch, a B2B e-commerce platform with integrated financial services and logistics transforming access to essential goods for communities across Africa. With operations across Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda, Sokowatch provides free same-day delivery of essential goods to over 16,000 informal retail shops as well as additional services to help them grow. Daniel Yu is the founder and Global CEO of Sokowatch. Prior to founding Sokowatch, Daniel worked as a software developer for several early-stage startups in the US and attended the University of Chicago where he focused on International Studies and Linguistics before dropping out. Through his work with Sokowatch, Daniel has received international recognition as the winner of the Prince of Wales Young Entrepreneur Prize, designation by the White House as an Emerging Global Entrepreneur, and as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. Daniel has worked in or traveled to 60+ countries and speaks Mandarin, Swahili, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Cantonese, and French.
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