1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your focus area(s) within FinTech?
I am a late stage venture investor at Eight Roads Ventures (series B, C and +) and have been following the fintech sector for more than 6 years now (when it was not even called Fintech I find incredibly exciting to see how many more areas of financial services and insurance are being disrupted by technology and AI. Some people call Fintech a bubble, but I personally think that we’re only at the beginning.

2. What are your key takeaways from the last 3 years in the European FinTech space?
– We are starting to see an increasing number of very sizeable acquisitions of Fintech companies by established institutions (Compte Nickel acquisition by BNP in France)
– It is also clear that Europe (and Asia in some respects) is at the forefront of Fintech innovation, as opposed to the US, which is obviously a great opportunity for entrepreneurs but also for European corporates who want to partner with start-ups

3. What trends or opportunities should we watch out for in the next 6-18 months?
Next-gen/ mobile-first banking will continue to be a very active space, with a number of emerging players addressing distinct customers: SME banking, kids, freelancers, etc. Fraud, authentication and KYC will see a new wave of innovation with technologies such as machine learning and continuous authentication