Amoo is proud to have organised and co-hosted an exclusive
FinTech focused Pitching Session at the British Virgin Islands London Office
last Wednesday 27th of August. The day's programme was centred around
three exceptional FinTech growth companies (FollowThatFund, Liquity
& M-Changa) and a panel of credible investors and FinTech experts.
Our keynote speaker was Udayan Goyal, a keen proponent of
technology driven reformation in banking and financial services, having
completed over 200 deals in the financial technology space. The panel consisted
of six industry experts, mostly investors, dedicated to startups and growth
stage businesses:
Simon
Taylor (@sytaylor), Barclays employee and FinTech enthusiast representing
Barclays interest in the Barclays Techstars FinTech Accelerator
Jonathan
Snade (@jonathansnade), a Partner at a leading city law firm Thomas Eggar
LLP (@theTEchLawyer), specialising in M&A, disposals, venture capital and
private equity investments
Linus
Dahg (@LDahg), an Associate at Wellington Partners, an active investor,
focusing on Technology and Life Sciences
Lisa
Lambie, Managing Partner at Satatt Holdings International, a private
Emerging Market investment holding firm with a strategic focus on Africa and
the Caribbean
James Wallington (@jim_wallington), a
Director of Private Equity at Babson Capital, responsible for investing in
lower- to mid-market businesses in Europe and raising capital for private
equity co-investments on a global basis
Simon
Vandi (@SimonVandi), Director of Business Development at Amoo Venture
Capital Advisory, with background in investment banking and a special interest
in entrepreneurship in creative
Overall, the feedback on the event was very positive as the
pitching companies received a thorough assessment of their business model.
FinTech Landscape
London has proven to be a fertile ground for the emergence
and incubation of disruptive FinTech Startups. Access to new technology and
talent and with dramatic changes in financial services has propelled the City
of London to the forefront of the global FinTech arena. As the financial
landscape is quickly moving from physical to digital disrupting the fundamental
structures of finance, mainstream banks are also seeing the benefits of the
prospering FinTech scene in London. Due to new regulation and capital
constrains, banks are unable to handle full financial services together with
the growing and evolving set of customer needs. The City is more innovation
oriented than ever before. Good examples of this are mentoring programmes such
as Barclays TechStars Accelerator, Level39 and Startupbootcamp. Backed
initiatives such as these bring the power back to the consumer.
As Udayan Goyal, Founder and Managing Partner of Anthemis Group says: It is clear that the financial services market is being disrupted by a new wave of early stage companies forcing the incumbents to take notice of rapidly evolving business models and fostering a new age of coopertition between the early stage companies and the incumbents.
As Udayan Goyal, Founder and Managing Partner of Anthemis Group says: It is clear that the financial services market is being disrupted by a new wave of early stage companies forcing the incumbents to take notice of rapidly evolving business models and fostering a new age of coopertition between the early stage companies and the incumbents.
As a sector, FinTech is still in its early stages, leading
to more first round investments than the global average. The risk profile of
young FinTech companies is such that attracts only a fraction of the investors.
Investors are usually faced with poorly articulated value proposition lacking proper
market validation. The key to a prospering FinTech ecosystem is continuous
education and building experience for both the entrepreneur and the investor.
The Pitching Session
The pithing session was conducted in front the panel members
with each FinTech company presenting their business case followed by brief yet
intense feedback and Q&A session. The three exceptional FinTech
companies that were pitching:
1) Liquity
– Presented by Barry Shrier (@Barry_LIQUITY). Liquity is an online marketplace,
boosting liquidity in the £300 billion private company equity sector
2) FollowThatFund
– Presented by Mehul Patel. FollowThatFund is an investment fund which
leverages crowd sourcing
3) M-Changa – Presented by Kyai Mullei and
David Mark. M-Changa is online mobile platform that facilitates family
fundraising and transfer of money between people
The companies were being evaluated by the panel based on their
presentation and the Q&A session. After concluding the pitching session the
winning was announced: M-Changa. Although all FinTech companies were exceptional,
M-Changa rose above the other due to quality of overall presentation and being
the company to present the most novel and disruptive idea. Through Amoo’s
partnerships, the prize for the winner, M-Changa is a free entry to the Financial
Technology Trailblazers Awards (@techtrailblaze), and for Liquity and
FollowThatFund a $50 discount on the entry fee.
The objective of the pitching session was to focus on
quality over quantity and to stimulate constructive and value-adding
discussions between the panel, entrepreneurs and the audience. The engagement
levels were high, leaving the entrepreneurs with new ideas how grow their
businesses.
Conclusion
At Amoo, we would like to thank the investors, the panel and
the entrepreneurs for attending and making the event a success. A special
thanks belongs to British Virgin Islands London Office for co-hosting the event
and providing an exclusive venue for the special event.
Sources: Accenture, CB
Insights, FinTech Pithing Event 27.08.2014 Panel Members and Audience
