The F-in-Tech Podcast

27/12/2021

In life you often need to get your hands dirty - sometimes literally. In Freddy Kelly's case it meant blagging his way into an event with a chocolate cake he baked. He met Credit Kudos's 1st investor there and his was off to the races. Podcast now available here, and wherever you get yours:
https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Credit-Kudos-CEO--Freddy-Kelly-PFF202138-e1bhilk

When he got his first taste of startup life, in San Francisco, freshly-graduated Freddy Kelly did a few months at culinary school on the side. Little did he know that years later, his baking skills would help him blag his way into a conference by virtue of a chocolate cake he’d baked. He met Credi...

10/12/2021

Some people thought launching a during a pandemic was crazy. Then Banxware - a Germany-based, white-labelled lending platform - saw its banking partner, , blow up. Since then, it's been relatively plain sailing! Just ask Founder & Co-CEO Miriam Wohlfarth, this week's podcast guest. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Banxware-Founder--Miriam-Wohlfarth-PFF202136-e1bgsi6

Some people thought launching a fintech during a pandemic was crazy. Then Banxware - a Germany-based, white-labelled SME lending platform - saw its banking partner, Wirecard, blow up. Since then, it’s been relatively plain sailing!

26/11/2021

On this week's episode, how Yokokawa is enabling the world to have Robinhood-style access to financial markets and , and why the AlpacaHQ co-founder & CEO feels the furry camel cousin best symbolises this ambition. Now available wherever you get your podcasts, and here: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum

19/11/2021

In this week's episode, how Olivier Jaillon cheated death, and survived the failure of his U.S. , to reinvent a 200-year old insurer-turned- , Wakam. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Wakam-CEO--Olivier-Jaillon-PFF202134-e1aa0o6

How Olivier Jaillon cheated death, and survived the failure of his U.S. startup, to reinvent a 200-year old insurer-turned-insurtech, Wakam.

10/11/2021

Aged 14, Radoslav Albrecht, was one of Germany’s top figure skaters. A child of Slovakian refugees, he was on track to become an Olympian, something that would have required focus, dedication and the ability to pick yourself up when you’re down. He never made it to the Olympics, but those same skills have come in handy with his chosen path: founding Bitbond, which helps and intermediaries issue and securitize using and . Listen to his story here, and wherever you get your podcasts. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum

Part of the Paris Fintech Forum Communities program for 2021, this podcast focus on Fintech founding myths from the pioneering innovators, entrepreneurs and investors who turned their disruptive visions into reality. Hosted by broadcaster Elliott Gotkine the F in Tech podcast lifts the lid on fintec...

26/10/2021

As a child, Christoph Rieche dreamed of becoming an architect. But things don't always go to plan. Instead, he went into investment banking with Goldman Sachs. When he left to co-found his SME lending , iwoca, some of this colleagues thought he was crazy. Others were jealous. The envious ones, it turns out, were right. iwoca has already helped tens of thousands of get access to the capital they need - enabling them to build businesses, rather than buildings. To hear his story, check out our latest podcast, available wherever you listen to yours, as well as: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum

Part of the Paris Fintech Forum Communities program for 2021, this podcast focus on Fintech founding myths from the pioneering innovators, entrepreneurs and investors who turned their disruptive visions into reality. Hosted by broadcaster Elliott Gotkine the F in Tech podcast lifts the lid on fintec...

11/10/2021

The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) space is on fire right now - just look at Klarna's latest funding round, valuing the in excess of $45b, or the $29b Square paid for Afterpay. So it seems as good a time as any to catch up with Holloman, founder of Divido, which connects banks to retailers, to offer customers . His other big passion is promoting in fintech through his charitable initiative, Fintech Finishers.

“I’m raised by a single mother in northern Sweden [and gay],” he says. “So for me, gender diversity and equality has been a given from day one. And then when I came to the UK, started my company and just sort of being busy building the company, I didn’t really think much about it. And then, one day, I took a good, hard look at my leadership team, and two middle-aged, white, straight men were looking back at me, and I realised: ‘hang on a second, where did I go wrong a long the way here?'”

Podcast now available wherever you get yours, as well as: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Divido-CEO--Christer-Holloman-202130-e184q6j

The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) space is on fire right now - just look at Klarna’s latest funding round, valuing the fintech in excess of $45b, or the $29b Square paid for Afterpay. So it seems as good a time as any to catch up with Christer Holloman, founder of Divido, which connects banks to retail...

01/10/2021

On this week's podcast, how Ali Niknam went all in with more than 100 million euros ($125m) of his OWN money to create the eco-friendly , bunq (now valued at nearly $2b), and why he doesn’t lose sleep over it - despite the high stakes (and steaks). Now playing wherever you get your podcasts, as well as: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum

Part of the Paris Fintech Forum Communities program for 2021, this podcast focus on Fintech founding myths from the pioneering innovators, entrepreneurs and investors who turned their disruptive visions into reality. Hosted by broadcaster Elliott Gotkine the F in Tech podcast lifts the lid on fintec...

10/09/2021

Sorry for the, um, radio silence. We took an extended summer break. But we're now back with one of 's funnest founders: Ricky Knox. From clubbing clothing to mobile networks in the Central African Republic to , Ricky's entrepreneurial journey has certainly been eventful. Things may not have gone precisely to plan at Tandem, but you can be sure that whatever he does next will be anything but dull. And if all else fails, he can always fall back on his ... Podcast available via https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Tandem-co-founder--Ricky-Knox-202126-e16vsj2 and wherever you get your podcasts.

His grandfather founded the Cincinnati Bengals American Football team. Ricky Knox co-founded Tandem (along with 10,000 other people - kind of), while almost striking gold with Bitcoin. He’s now stepped down as CEO of the neobank. But with an entrepreneurial journey that’s included selling clubbi...

16/07/2021

Tamas Giorgadse was a chess prodigy who survived the Georgian civil war and hyperinflation. He finished school aged 12, and completed his masters three years later. He moved to Germany, gained TWO PhDs and went to work for McKinsey & Company. But it's what he did next that interests us: co-founding , Europe’s leading platform for savings and investments. Already a unicorn, the company recently announced a merger with domestic rival Deposit Solutions, to create a genuine, European champion. Listen to Tamas's fascinating story here, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Raisin-Co-Founder--CEO--Tamas-Giorgadse-202123-e14adls

Tamas Giorgadse was a chess prodigy who survived civil war and hyperinflation. He finished school aged 12, and completed his masters three years later. He moved to Germany, gained two PhDs and went to work for McKinsey. Next, he co-founded Raisin, Europe’s leading platform for savings and investme...

09/07/2021

A back injury - possibly caused by some overexuberant dancing at a wedding - put Anthony Beilin out of action for six months. Luckily, he worked full-time, at Aviva. His income didn't suffer, and he received all the physical and emotional help he needed. But when a contractor friend came to see him - and told him of his loss of income and benefits while off from a knee-op - the proverbial lightbulb went off in Anthony's brain. Why, he reasoned, should , and be deprived of sick pay, holiday pay and other just because of the way they work? This issue became especially pressing during the pandemic - giving Collective Benefits a perfectly-timed opportunity to step into the breach. Podcast now available on most platforms, and via: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Collective-Benefits-Founder--CEO--Anthony-Beilin-202122-e142iqd

A back injury - possibly caused by some overexuberant dancing at a wedding - put Anthony Beilin out of action for six months. Luckily, he worked full-time, at Aviva. His income didn’t suffer, and he received all the physical and emotional help he needed. But when a contractor friend came to see hi...

18/06/2021

When he was fired by Citi in 1999, a young Nick Bortot received some friendly advice from his soon-to-be ex-boss: don't get another job in finance. Yet that's just what he did, joining the Netherlands' first online broker, before helping to build BinckBank Nederland into the first Dutch fintech . In 2013 he founded BUX, a pan-European trading platform, partly because he had a point to prove. Inevitably, it's often compared to Robinhood, and not just because the two startups were founded within months of one another. It offers zero-fee trading, and has the size, scope and simplicity that have made Robinhood a household name. But it doesn't get paid for order flow (it's illegal in the EU). And with a focus on subscriptions, education and long-term investment, it's also Europe's anti-Robinhood. In that sense, it’s a bit like Schrödinger's cat being alive and dead at the same time. So maybe we should call it Schrödinger's app! Check out the podcast here, or wherever you listen to yours. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Bux-Founder--Nick-Bortot-PFF202120-e12vr82

11/06/2021

Born in Bombay, and raised in Singapore, Anand Sambasivan was destined to be a doctor - till it turned out he wasn't very good at medicine. He went into investment banking and then set up a hedge fund, where he and his clients had privileged access to and other share offerings. But he didn’t think it was fair. So he founded PrimaryBid to level the playing field. Thanks to the London-based - and a partnership with the London Stock Exchange Group - retail investors have had access to IPOs, such as Deliveroo and PensionBee, and share sales by the likes of Compass Group, Ocado and Taylor Wimpey. WIth more than 160 deals done, PrimaryBid has now launched in France. The U.S. may not be far behind, as Anand continues his quest to put the P back in IPO. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or via: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Primary-Bid-CEO--Anand-Sambasivan-PFF202119-e12fg0p

Born in Bombay, and raised in Singapore, Anand Sambasivan was destined to be a doctor - till it turned out he wasn’t very good at medicine. He went into investment banking and then set up a hedge fund, where he had privileged access to IPOs and other share offerings. But he didn’t think it was f...

28/05/2021

The synergies between being an eventing champion and running a might not be immediately obvious. But balance, fearlessness in the face of the unknown and a determination to succeed would probably all qualify. So no real surprise that Moneyhub CEO, Seaton - who narrowly missed out on the Ozzy team for the Sydney - has all these qualities and more. She's also great fun to chat to, with oodles of insights into what it takes to run a fintech. And although, technically, she didn't found the platform, as Sam notes: whether you create a baby, or adopt one, it’s still your baby, and you still love it and put everything you’ve got into making it a success. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, or via https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Moneyhub-CEO--Samantha-Seaton-PFF202118-e11n9u5

Sam Seaton was an eventing champion. She flew around the world with her horse in the hold. But after failing to make the Sydney Olympics team, and realising the demands on her and the horses were not what she wanted, she turned her hand to consulting. A management buyout (MBO) of stochastic forecast...

24/05/2021

Farmer. Missionary. Electric sign salesman. Hotelier. Levi King seems to have done it all. Most importantly (for our purposes, at least), he's co-founded not one, but TWO successful . First came SME loan-broker, Lendio. And now Nav, a business financial health platform. It matches small businesses with the best loans available, and helps them improve their risk profile, to enable access to better loan rates in future. The company has raised $100m from investment royalty, including Kleiner Perkins, Goldman Sachs, and Experian - an even larger sum than Levi's had to pay in driving fines in the U.S. and around the world! Now playing on most podcast platforms and here: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Nav-Co-Founder--Executive-Chairman--Levi-King-PFF202117-e118ijf

Farmer. Missionary. Electric sign salesman. Hotelier. And most importantly - for our purposes, at least - founder of not one, but TWO successful fintechs. First came SME loan-broker, Lendio. And now NAV, a business financial health platform - matching small businesses with the best loans available,....

14/05/2021

Georg Ludviksson was once Iceland’s top mathlete, and creator of a Tomb-Raider-topping video game. But it took the global financial crisis to help turn his , Meniga, into reality. The company is an innovation partner for some of Europe's biggest banks, such as Banco Santander and UniCredit, enabling them to provide customers with advanced digital services - everything from personal finance management to carbon insights. And if you want to know how Meniga got its name, make sure you listen to the end, for a musical finale. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Meniga-Co-Founder--CEO--Georg-Ludviksson-PFF202116-e10q2d1

07/05/2021

If you can switch where you hold financial assets, like stocks and pensions, super easily, why can't you do the same with the bank that holds your ? This germ of an idea prompted Felicia Meyerowitz Singh to found digital cash platform Akoni Hub. Along the way, she set up a micro-credit in India, and co-founded Hive Founders, to help other founders to follow in her footsteps. At the same time, she's trying to persuade policymakers that *they* also have a critical role in leveling the playing field for female entrepreneurs. Listen to our conversation here, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Akoni-CEO--Felicia-Meyerowitz-Singh--PFF202115-e10cffb

If you can switch financial assets, like stocks and pensions, super easily, why can’t you do the same with the bank that holds your cash? This germ of an idea prompted Felicia to found digital cash platform, Akoni. Along the way, she set up a micro-credit startup in India, and co-founded Hive Foun...

09/04/2021

Victor Trokoudes was a man without a plan. He was also a man with no savings and a dad who kept nagging him to do something with his 💶. What should such a person do? Why, co-found a fintech that enables people to save and invest without having to think about it, of course. And thus Plum was born, as was this week's podcast. Check it out here and on most podcast platforms. https://parisfintechforum.com/_Podcast21FT

02/04/2021

Great chatting with Husayn Kassai. He tells us the seed Onfido was planted when he was just 10, when he watched his parents - newly arrived in the UK - struggle to prove their identity (his eBay
CD-selling biz, which he set up aged 12, gave him another perspective...). Listen to the podcast via the link, or on most podcast platforms. https://parisfintechforum.com/_Podcast21FT

26/03/2021

Running a fintech is apparently just as challenging as playing professional . Alastair Lukies should know - he's done both, though he only broke half the bones in his leg with the latter. His first attempt - Monitise - hit a market value of some £2 billion at one point. After a stint as the UK government's "fintech ambassador", he went on to found Pollinate, which helps big provide digital tools, such as services, to small businesses. And it's a good time to have Al on the podcast: Pollinate has just raised $50m from the likes of NatWest, National Australia Bank, Mastercard and Insight Ventures. Enjoy. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Pollinate-Founder--CEO--Al-Lukies-PFF202111-etgp1t

19/03/2021

To paraphrase the opening song in the musical, Avenue Q, what do you do with a BA in History? Become a VC and then a fintech founder, of course! Already well-known as the world’s biggest cheerleader for Israeli tech, Jonathan Medved set up OurCrowd in 2013, to enable retail investors to get the same kind of access to tech startups he had as a . In this week's sometimes riotous podcast, he reveals that on one occasion one Marc Benioff offered him the chance to invest in the seed round of a tiny startup called Salesforce. He declined. But as he concludes, with his usual ebullience: "Life is life. It's all good. I'm still in the game." https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/OurCrowd-Founder--CEO--Jon-Medved-PFF202110-esrq66

12/03/2021

Did founders get to where they are thanks to luck, hard work, or their own brilliance? Usually, it's a combination. In the case of Christian Wiens, CEO of Getsafe, there was the serendipitous encounter with his co-founder, Marius Simon, at a meetup where no-one else turned up; his parents’ scrupulous hoarding of documents; and his ability to smash glass doors (quite the superpower!). Check out his story on this week's podcast, available wherever you get yours. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Christian-Wiens--CEO--Christian-Wiens--PFF202109-es3pau

Forget glass ceilings, Christian Wiens had to break through glass doors - and be billed for them by his landlord - before being inspired to found his insurtech, Getsafe. Based in Germany, Getsafe provides coverage for everything from cars to drones to pets to legal fees. You could call it: Europe's....

04/03/2021

Here’s a question we don’t get to ask every day: what have cheesemaking, alligators and got in common? Answer: they’re all part of Liberis Finance CEO Rob Straathof’s wild story, which he shares on this week’s podcast. And though he may never have fulfilled his ambition to become an astronaut, keeping his feet on the ground has meant helping many small business owners keep a roof over their heads. Enjoy. https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Liberis-CEO--Rob-Straathof-PFF202108-erddro

25/02/2021

"We had a business in the UK that was struggling, we had a team in the US that was struggling to come up with...a legal launch plan, we were running out of cash, and then our charismatic inspirational leader gets sick and passes away." Luckily, Zopa cofounder, Giles Andrews, was on hand to turn the around. Today, it's one of the UK's leading challenger banks. For the full story, listen to the conversation here: https://anchor.fm/parisfintechforum/episodes/Zopa-co-founder--Giles-Andrews--PFF202107-er1333 or wherever you get your podcasts.

With a passion for motor racing and cars Giles Andrews wasn’t always destined to found a fintech. And when he did, he almost crashed and burned. But under his leadership, he turned the p2p lending pioneer around. And while banks and other lenders were coming unstuck during the global financial cri...

18/02/2021

They say founding a is like raising a child. After blowing more than $100,000 on six rounds of , Claire Tomkins did both, alongside founding Future Family - a -financing fintech - to help others do the same. Listen via the link, or wherever you get your podcasts: https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/22f9786f/future-family-co-founder-and-ceo-claire-tomkins

11/02/2021

How many people do you know that have taken on Amazon.com and won? As co-founder of LOVEFiLM, serial entrepreneur William Reeve has. Now he’s hellbent on taking the financial pain out of renting and letting property as CEO of Goodlord. He’s also chairman of robo-advisor, Nutmeg, a co-founder of Secret Escapes and a prolific . Little surprise we're chuffed to have him as this week's podcast guest. Listen via the website or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/29e6ff18/goodlord-ceo-and-nutmeg-chairman-william-reeve

04/02/2021

Picture this: you've been beavering away for years on your . Friends & family have chipped in. And now you've raised your seed round of €1m. Everything is going great - til your bank closes your account for no reason, leaving you with no means to receive the cash. What do you do? Philippe Gelis doesn't need to use his imagination. It's what happened to him and Kantox. Fortunately, Barclays UK came to the rescue, and this foreign exchange-focused fintech has never looked back. Packed with lessons, both personal and entrepreneurial, this podcast shows what has really done to -based fintechs; the joys of failure; and why innovating in financial services is easier than innovating in T-shirts. Available wherever you get your podcasts, and via the website: https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/2d688dbc/kantox-co-founder-and-ceo-philippe-gelis

28/01/2021

They say bad things always come in threes. Shachar Bialik would no doubt agree. and would ordinarily be enough on their own to floor many businesses. Throw in the Wirecard fraud fiasco, and it’s a wonder he’s still around to tell the tale. But not only did he and Curve survive. They thrived. The recently announced it had raised an additional $95m, taking its total to $175m. Now, Curve is coming to America. Listen to Shachar’s story here: https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/ec4293a1/curve-founder-and-ceo-shachar-bialik and wherever you get your podcasts.

21/01/2021

Is working in roller coasters not the perfect metaphor - and experience - for running an online trading platform? We think so! Our guest this week, Yoni Assia, is CEO and Co-founder of eToro, which grew at a blistering pace in 2020. His first startup, though, involved installing video cameras on white-knuckle rides, and then selling DVDs to the riders as they wobbled out of their cars. He eventually sold it to former a high-flying tech stock called Kodak. And while that company's best years may be behind it, a bumper 2020, profits, and a return to the U.S. all suggest that eToro is very much a for the future. Available via the website, or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/1cbcb774/etoro-co-founder-and-ceo-yoni-assia

14/01/2021

Feeling blue? We are, but only in a literal sense, as we’ve teamed up with our new co-producers, the Paris Fintech ForumCommunities Program, with support from Bpifrance. We’re actually feeling rather optimistic about 2021, and we’re thrilled to be kicking off the year with Assaf Wand, CEO & Co-Founder of Hippo Insurance. Having raised more than $700m, it's one of the hottest, unicorniest(!) on the planet. An may happen this year. Just don’t tell him hippos are the most vicious land-based mammal on the planet. Available wherever you get your podcasts and https://www.f-in-tech.com/podcast/episode/2439cb5e/hippo-co-founder-and-ceo-assaf-wand