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Top 130 Fintech startups

Top 130 Fintech startups

Did you know that there are more than 1,000 Fintech startups? Actually, there may well be more than 5,000, but there are at least a few thousands that are referenced in various places: – Venture Scanner has referenced more than 1,000 across 17 categories here – Reuben Levy has referenced 450 startups here A few(…)

Citi Mobile Challenge: the next gen Hackathon?

Citi Mobile Challenge: the next gen Hackathon?

With thousand of startups working on the next financial innovations, it is clear that banks – despite all their resources – will find it challenging to be at the forefront of innovation. On the other hand, banks know that they will have to adapt to the world of Finance 2.0 and we have seen many(…)

Banks to compete with Google and Amazon! The empire strikes back?

Banks to compete with Google and Amazon! The empire strikes back?

Google and Amazon the next competitors to banks? This is a recurring theme, which has been debated at length (here and here for example) But banks competing with Google or Amazon, that is, shall we say, more daring… But this is exactly what happened last week, when Santander announced that it will offer cloud storage, therefore(…)

Fintech scene in the UK. And in Switzerland. And Germany. And Romandie!

Fintech scene in the UK. And in Switzerland. And Germany. And Romandie!

Marc Bernegger is a Fintech investor (now venture partner at Orange Growth Capital, previously at NextGFI), and previously a serial entrepreneur. Having been in that space for a long time, he is a very insightful observer of the Fintech developments. As a result, the lists he compiled of people in Fintech are extremely useful for anyone(…)

Update: Spain now ahead of New York in Fintech!

Update: Spain now ahead of New York in Fintech!

Further to my previous blog on the world ranking of Fintech places based on Twitter followers, there was some healthy discussions that were well summarised by Silvia Mensdorff: @Huynguyentrieu Love the rain of reactions your blog provocateur has sparked. Looking forward to the updated #fintech twitter ranking — Silvia Mensdorff (@silviamensdorff) December 13, 2014   Of(…)

Fintech: London losing ground to Hong Kong and New York, says Twitter

Fintech: London losing ground to Hong Kong and New York, says Twitter

“I want the UK to lead the world in developing Fintech. That’s my ambition – short and sweet.” (George Osborne, UK Chancellor at the launch of Innovate Finance) And as evidenced by the multiple initiatives coming from the Silicon Valley, New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney and many others, this is clearly(…)

Fintech in Hong Kong: what is the opportunity ?

Fintech in Hong Kong: what is the opportunity ?

I had the pleasure to meet Janos Barberis (known as @FintechHK on Twitter) a while ago, and have been incredibly impressed by what he has achieved. He is clearly one of the biggest fans of Fintech and financial inclusion, and thinks that Hong Kong is the best place to lead new initiatives in finance and(…)

SoFi, a p2p lender to watch…

SoFi, a p2p lender to watch…

Lending Club and Prosper are the largest – and most well-known – p2p platforms in the US, but SoFi is certainly one of the most interesting. #119024681 / gettyimages.com   SoFi is a p2p platform based on a simple concept : get alumni of US universities to borrow from other alumni. This obviously facilitates credit(…)

Air France – why it’s so difficult for incumbents to evolve

Air France – why it’s so difficult for incumbents to evolve

I was reading the news about Air France, and it struck me that it was a good example of the challenges faced by an incumbent to evolve. The summary of the situation from Business Insider : ‘Interminable’ Air France strike enters second week Pilots are on strike in protest at Air France’s plans to develop(…)

Can a Disruptor grow 10x faster than an Incumbent ?

Can a Disruptor grow 10x faster than an Incumbent ?

How quickly can Disruptive Innovation revolutionise existing industries ? For many reasons, I think that finance will be drastically different in 10 years, but what can actually happen over a 10-year period ? Let’s try to be systematic, and since I use a very simple framework to look at startups, let’s use the same approach(…)