With the near-final line-up and agenda in place, and just 17 days to go to the 11th FinTech Forum, here are some quotes from the startups and investors who will be on stage.

If you are an investor or financial institution looking to connect to the European FinTech scene, you know where you need to be on 21st November 2019: The Airport Club, Frankfurt Airport: https://lnkd.in/dNCs-2X. Please reach out to Frank Schwab or me if you would like to learn more.

If you can’t make it but would like a walk down the memory lane of European FinTech, check out our previous events here https://lnkd.in/dRvzN2w and make sure you subscribe to our weekly newsletter covering European FinTech deals, events and insights from leading founders and investors: https://lnkd.in/gBa6sUJ

Finally, if you can’t have enough of the quotes below, head to our 7 Questions interview series featuring 120+ startups and investors dating back to Aug. 2013.

 

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Petr Stransky of iCEIBA

http://www.fintechforum.de/next-7q-with-iceiba/

I am fascinated by the opportunities, which are rather about creating completely new services, which are possible because of technology advancement or rather more because of new breed of the innovators finding how to address problems, which were left aside by traditional financial service providers and policy makers. In another words, I find most interesting those, which are bringing practical solutions, where policy makers failed or ignored.

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Emrah Basic of SeedX Lichtenstein

http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-emrah-basic-of-seed-x-liechtenstein-ag/

Challenger/neo banks are ready to capitalize on modern UX. However, when you dig deeper, UX is brilliant, but the services are quite limited; compare Gmail and traditional. However, we believe there is a segment of people who still prefer having a physical bank. This might mean that traditional banks aren’t positioned that bad after all, i.e. to defend etc or retain market share, especially given their low capital costs.

PS: case in point – check out the recent research benchmarking the profitability of challenger banks from Fincog: https://fincog.nl/blog/15/the-profitability-challenge-for-challenger-banks

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Jens Jennisen on fairr’s journey to exit (to Raisin)

http://www.fintechforum.de/journey-to-exit-with-jens-jennissen-of-fairr/

I think most of the cliches are true. Especially the one about building a company being an emotional rollercoaster ride. In early 2018 we went through a restructuring at fairr as we scaled back some non-performing activities and refocused on our organic growth story. That strategy worked so well that a year later the timing was right for a sale. So be warned of the emotional toll. That being said I would do it again anytime.

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Olivier Debeugny of Lingua Custodia

http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-olivier-debeugny-lingua-custodia/

I must say that I would qualify fund raising as a sport rather than a journey! You have to be fully prepared (for months) before entering into the competition, 100 % performant at all pitching opportunities, and better than others to win the race (and the prize coming with it: the funds). And let’s be honest, I like it!! It obliges you to deeply re-assess the risk/opportunity ratios of your business model and your environment.

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Kai H. Kuljurgis of Coindex.de

http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-kai-h-kuljurgis-coindex-de/

One big learning is that raising money is really sensitive to the market situation – especially with volatile markets. Thus you need to select investors who really understand the topic and are willing to undergo risk. Many investors made their money with e-commerce or adtech. They understand clear metrics, where channels and e.g. cac are well defined. When a disruptive business model with more frontloading forces you to leave this behind, only a few are still willing to invest. 

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Christian Knott of Capnamic Ventures

http://www.fintechforum.de/7-questions-with-christian-knott-capnamic-ventures/

Generally, I believe that we will see an ever increasing connection between players in the market, which means that in the end it will be most important to offer the best interface and be the overlay over all the performances. I personally do not want 10 different applications that somehow relate to my financial matters.

I believe that this holds also true in B2B, where it will be about ease of use and accessibility.