neobank

We’re talking about the week’s biggest startup and tech news with Mary Ann, Becca, and Alex. 

Here's what we got into:

• What happened to WeWork? As the shared office space company struggles to stay alive, we had a lot to say.
• Deals of the Week: Mary Ann wanted to chat about Charlie, which is building a neobank for seniors; Alex wanted to talk about an interesting non-profit-ish model to get startups and others access to H100s; Becca brought Almouneer to the table, an interesting healthtech play in the Middle East.
• From there we dug into massive fintech rounds, which are seemingly back. For more, you can read up on QI Tech, Tabby, and Next Insurance.
• And, finally, what to do when founding teams break up? Becca has notes.

As always, Equity is back for you on Monday, but you can catch up with us in the meantime on X and Threads @EquityPod. Talk soon!

For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website.

Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews foundersand more!

Credits: Equity is hosted by TechCrunch's Alex Wilhelm and Mary Ann Azevedo. We are produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.

In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Pierre Bourdon, Investor von Picus Capital . Pierre beleuchtet für uns die Finanzierungsrunden von Sensorfact und Bunq.

Das niederländische GreenTech Sensorfact hat erfolgreich eine Investitionsrunde in Höhe von 25 Millionen Euro abgeschlossen. Sensorfact spezialisiert sich auf intelligente Überwachungslösungen für die Industrie, um mehr Nachhaltigkeit zu fördern. Die Finanzierungsrunde wurde von Blume Equity angeführt, mit Beteiligung der bestehenden Investoren FORWARD.one, Korys und SET Ventures. Das Unternehmen plant, das Kapital zu nutzen, um neue Märkte zu erschließen, die Produktpalette zu optimieren und die Ressourceneffizienz und Maschinenbetriebszeit in der Industrie zu verbessern, um auf globaler Ebene Industrieunternehmen zu bedienen. 

Die niederländische Neobank Bunq hat zusätzliches Wachstumskapital von 44,5 Millionen Euro erhalten, insgesamt fast 100 Millionen Euro in diesem Jahr. Investoren wie Pollen Street Capital und Raymond Kasiman haben sich an der Finanzierung beteiligt und die Bewertung des Unternehmens bleibt bei 1,65 Milliarden Euro. Das von Ali Niknam gegründete FinTech plant, mit dem frischen Kapital ihre internationale Expansion zu beschleunigen und weiterhin schnell zu wachsen. Das Unternehmen verzeichnete kürzlich 9 Millionen Nutzer in ganz Europa und hat seine Einlagen auf 4,5 Milliarden Euro verdoppelt. Sie erwarten, im Jahr 2023 profitabel zu werden und könnten möglicherweise mit N26 gleichziehen, das ebenfalls 9 Millionen Nutzer hat, aber immer noch größer bei den Einlagen und Bewertungen ist. 

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In the latest episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver Hughes, former CEO of Tinkoff, one of the largest digital platforms in Russia. Oliver's unique experience in the finance industry and his excellent reputation in the market led him to be recruited by Oleg Tinkov as part of the leadership team of the newly-launched Tinkoff Credit Systems. Oliver's journey in Tinkoff and his experience in the financial industry gave us valuable insights into the current state and future of digital banking and FinTech.

During the podcast episode, Oliver shared how Tinkoff evolved from a direct-to-mail credit card business to a giant financial lifestyle ecosystem that offers a wide range of lifestyle services like brokerage, travel, entertainment, and much more. He emphasized how the lessons they learned during the global financial crisis of 2008 became competitive advantages that they still carry through today. 

Oliver also highlighted the importance of balance sheet management and profitability in the digital banking and FinTech industry. He discussed the liabilities-led approach that many companies used in the past, which resulted in scaling without profitability. He also touched on the concept of traditional banking and how it's being replaced by digital banking, which he believes is the future. However, he also noted that private equity-fueled neo banking has led to a lack of discipline in managing balance sheets, which is essential for running a profitable digital banking business.

In addition, Oliver talked about the challenges that traditional banks face in building ecosystems, as it requires expensive online expertise and a tech culture that traditional banks are not equipped to handle. He also shared his belief that the B2C business model won't move to tech companies or retailers, but rather to digital banks that have the balance sheet and the ability to go direct to consumers through mobile channels.

 Other topics of discussion in this episode include:

-      The importance of unit economics in digital banking

-      The future of traditional branch-based banking

-      The barriers to entry for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. 

Don't miss this exciting episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, where we dive deep into the world of digital banking and FinTech with Oliver Hughes. 

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In der Rubrik “Investments & Exits” begrüßen wir heute Martin Janicki, Partner bei ​​Cavalry Ventures. Martin kommentiert die Finanzierungsrunde von Green-Got:

Green-Got, eine französische Neobank mit Schwerpunkt auf Nachhaltigkeit, hat durch eine Kombination aus Crowdfunding und VC-Investitionen 5 Millionen Euro aufgebracht, um seine Dienstleistungen zu erweitern. Drei Millionen Euro wurden vom KlimaTech-VC Pale blue dot investiert. Das Ziel des Startups ist es, die Art und Weise, wie Menschen ihr Geld verwalten, zu verändern, indem es alternative, transparente und ökologische Bankkonten anbietet. Mit jeder Einzahlung soll ein Beitrag gegen die Verschmutzung der Ozeane, zur Wiederaufforstung oder zur Entwicklung erneuerbarer Energien geleistet werden. Mit dieser neuen Finanzierung plant das 2020 von Maud Caillaux, Andréa Ganovelli und Fabien Huet gegründete FinTech, sein Angebot um persönliche Sparkonten und Konten für Einzelunternehmer zu erweitern und in den Markt für grüne Finanzierungen in anderen europäischen Ländern einzutreten.

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Nick Root, Chief Executive Officer, Intergiro

Intergiro offers access to multi-currency accounts, card issuing and card acquiring solutions on one tech stack and across Europe. With a cloud-based solution that includes embedded finance, embedded payments, and BaaS, Intergiro has also embraced the digital world further by operating through a combination of hubs and remote-working (even before the pandemic forced that on us for a couple of years!). Nick Root, Intergiro’s CEO speaks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence about his philosophy around business structure and the business opportunity he sees.

In this conversation, we chat with Will Beeson, who currently works at Standard Chartered Ventures. Previously, Will was the Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer at digital bank BELLA, as well as, a Principal at Rebank, a fintech advisory firm. Will’s banking entrepreneurship streak doesn’t end there, he co-founded Allica, a digital bank for businesses in the UK. We discuss the evolution of the banking-as-a-service sector, and in particular the challenges of infrastructure providers when their fintech clients fail due to market pressure. What’s next for embedded finance?
 

MENTIONED IN THE CONVERSATION

Rebank: https://rebank.cc/

Will Beeson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willbeeson/ and https://twitter.com/will_beeson

Topics: Embedded finance, fintech, neobank, banking, payments, finance, banking-as-a-service, API, RegTech, Regulation

Companies: Plaid, Onfido, Stripe, Socure, Green Dot Bank, Cross River Bank, FIS, Fiserv, BlockFi, BBVA

ABOUT THE FINTECH BLUEPRINT

🔥Subscribe to the Fintech Blueprint newsletter to stay at the forefront of Fintech and DeFi: https://bit.ly/3hyhlC2

🤝 Partner with Fintech Blueprint through sponsorships: https://bit.ly/3UZllsV

👉 Twitter: https://twitter.com/LexSokolin

TIMESTAMPS

1’01”: Setting the scene in Fintech 2022 & what are the symptoms of things going wrong in the Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) space

10’01”: The recipe for success in the BaaS space and the opportunities over the next coming years

13’19”: The dialectic between infrastructure and application and their phases of innovation

19’32”: Optimising the operating model for maximum efficiency & where/how regulatory influence plays a part

24’27”: The tangible impact of regulation & how this may help alleviate the current state of affairs

28’04”: The cost impact of fintech solutions on the value chain & what these costs may look like

31’31”: The optimal outcome for fintech infrastructure: embedded & bundled, or independent development, or acquisition of leading providers of services

34’00”: The optimal outcome for fintech applications: build a full service neobank or build a revenue generating component and grow from there

37’13”: Channels to use to connect with Will & Lex

Disclaimer here — this newsletter does not provide investment advice and represents solely the views and opinions of FINTECH BLUEPRINT LTD.

Contributors: Lex, Laurence, Matt, Farhad, Mike, Daniella

Want to discuss? Stop by our Discord and reach out here with questions.

In this week’s episode, Eric talks with Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank and ex CEO of Revolut and OakNorth. Richard has helped build three unicorn challengers in the fintech space (the third being as a non-exec for World Remit), but he’s also spent time at big incumbent banks. He has a unique perspective on not only what it takes to build a unicorn, but also what the biggest differences are between how incumbents and challengers go to market and approach growth. Eric and Richard also dig into effective org design models for product and marketing teams and how the Spotify squad model has had a big impact on how he’s approached building teams. Read more here - https://productschool.com/blog/product-management-2/spotify-model-scaling-agile/. 

Connect with Richard here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-davies-1323b2/

Check out Allica here - https://www.allica.bank/

Smart link: https://link.chtbl.com/scratch

Welcome to another episode of Scratch! In this week's episode Eric Fulwiler is joined by Coenraad Jonker, Co Founder & CEO of Tyme Bank, the leading challenger bank in South Africa with 6 million customers. 

Tyme has just expanded in the Philippines to help 52.1 million unbanked citizens. At Singapore Fintech Festival, our conversation covered the origin of Tyme, how they built a successful challenger product and brand and how they plan to become a true rival brand. 

This is a fascinating conversation, tune in!

Omar Mansur, Enterprise Lead Global Projects, Codebase Technologies; Dr Jasmin B Gupta, CEO & Co-Founder, LXME 

You can’t have one without the other! Embedded finance may be defined as offering access to a range of financial services and solutions via a merchant website on a customer journey that is not interrupted by the need to leave the site you are on to go to that of a financial institution. Banking as a Service (BaaS) is the technology solution that makes this seamless experience for the consumer possible. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the potential of both embedded finance and BaaS with Omar Mansur of Codebase Technologies (pictured) and Dr Jasmin B Gupta, CEO and Co-Founder of LXME, India’s first financial platform for women.

Much of the current innovation in the fintech space focuses on empowering the unbanked and the underbanked to have access to crucial financial services. One people group that has been continually overlooked is Gen Z (ages 11-25), who only have access to cash or their parents' cards to make payments. Zywa is on a mission to change that. 

Zywa is a social banking app and prepaid card created specifically for Gen Z, allowing teenagers to spend, receive and manage money completely cashlessly. They can also earn rewards and interact with their friends on the app, and parents are even able to send money to their kids to cover expenses in a controlled environment. 

Zywa was inspired by the lived experiences of its co-founders. Alok Kumar (CEO) and Nuha Hashem (CTO) grew up in the gulf region and identified the pain points of young people who were stuck with borrowing their parents' cards or asking for cash to make payments. They recently raised $3 million in seed funding which they will use to fuel their growth in the UAE and expand into Saudi Arabia and Egypt. 

In this conversation on The Change Officer Podcast, Alok and Nuha share: 

• Zywa's fascinating origin story 
• Why they decided to leave their established career paths and focus fully on Zywa instead 
• Their experience and the value they gained from being involved in the YCombinator accelerator programme 
• How they sourced, pitched to and selected investors for Zywa 
• How they are building their business and their product 
• Why they were able to successfully partner with banks 
• What a growth team is, the value it holds, and how they built theirs 
• How they are gathering the data to build a product that truly meets the needs of its users 

Find Zywa online: https://www.zywa.co

Host: Vuk Zlatarov

🎬 This episode is produced by Poddster, an end-to-end video podcast production company that helps businesses conceptualize, produce, manage, and grow podcasts for their brand. Click this link to book a free consultation with Poddster's team or rent a studio: poddster.com/book-free-consultation/

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✨ They say that change is the only constant. If this is true, we want to know what is the change ahead. To get the answers, our hosts Ivan Zeljkovic and Vuk Zlatarov are talking to the change-makers themselves. We invite you to join us on the journey of getting the answer ✨

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Tamer Al Mauge, Managing Director MENA, Codebase Technologies; Pankul Verma, Principal, Cedar Management Consulting International 

Why are there so few standalone neobanks in the MENA region and why have so many traditional banks there launched neobank subsidiaries? Is the region overbanked as many have claimed and what does it take for a neobank in MENA to be regarded as a success? Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the issues with Tamer Al Mauge (pictured), Managing Director MENA for Codebase Technologies and Pankul Verma, Principal at Cedar Management Consulting International.

Landon Glenn, Founder & CEO, ASA Technologies

FinTechs are very good at leveraging data to serve affinity groups, but they are, by and large, not bankers and nor do most of them want to be bankers. Collaborative banking is a concept being promoted as a solution that removes any compliance and regulatory burden from FinTechs, allowing them to focus on their core competencies while creating a role and opportunity for financial institutions. Landon Glenn, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ASA Technologies, talks to Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence.

Sandeep Bagaria, Chief Executive Officer, Tagit

Tagit works with banks in Asia, the Middle East and Africa to bring their digital strategy to life with secure and scalable omnichannel digital solutions. The company picked up the award for Most Effective Bank-FinTech Partnership at the last Global FinTech Innovation Awards for its project with India’s AU Small Finance Bank. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses how banks need to prepare for the future with Sandeep Bagaria, Chief Executive Officer of Tagit.

Ana Quirola, Business Development, Strategic Partnerships and Commercial Channels Manager, COBIS

At the latest Global FinTech Innovation Awards, COBIS, a leading core banking solutions provider in the Latin American market, won the award for Most Innovative Cloud Deployment for Banco Santander Peru’s SURGIR project. Robin Amlôt of IBS Intelligence discusses the solution behind the award, COBIS Serverless, with Ana Quirola, Business Development, Strategic Partnerships and Commercial Channels Manager of COBIS.