Fintech Nexus

Hi guys, welcome to the Fintech Coffee Break, I’m your host, Isabelle Castro, and today I shared my coffee break with Matthew Homer, managing member of The Department of XYZ. 

Matt’s career has wound through the fintech and regulatory sectors, and his work at XYZ brings those two areas together in the field of VC. Paying particular focus to blockchain-based companies, they aim to be the “regulator in on the cap table,” providing insight to navigate the challenging environment. 

On the back of Consensus 2023, I caught up with him at Fintech Nexus’ New York office to discuss the turbulent regulatory landscape of U.S. crypto. 

On today's episode, I am joined by Oscilar's Co-Founders Neha Narkhede and Sachin Kulkarni.

Neha, Sachin, and I talk about the founding story behind Oscilar, the importance of no code, the efficiency of out-of-the-box solutions, the benefits of engineering talent from all industries, the rising importance of fighting fraud, being married as co-founder, raising capital, and much more.

One quick PSA. If you want to reach the best fintech community, we have all the tools you need to shape your message and reach new clients. Sponsor an episode, sponsor a webinar, buy ad space; we have it all. Please reach out anytime: [email protected].

Without further ado, I present Oscilar's Co-Founders, Neha Narkhede and Sachin Kulkarni. I hope you enjoy the show.

Episode highlights include:

• Oscilar's founding story
• No code
• Out-of-the-box solutions
• Fintech, BNPL, BaaS
• The importance of diverse engineering talent
• Fraud to the top of the stack
• AI risk management
• Being married as co-founders
• Raising capital
• And much more…

Connect with Neha on LinkedIn
Connect with Sachin on LinkedIn
Connect with Oscilar on LinkedIn

Connect with PitchIt:

• Tweet me @ToddFintech
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous PitchIt episodes
• Email me at [email protected]

Until next time.

Given the environment we are in today I think it is important to hear from leading fintech venture capitalists to get their perspective on the state of fundraising and where the industry is going. This episode continues my semi-regular feature of leading VCs.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Tricia Kemp, a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Oak HC/FT. We cover a lot of territory in this conversation and Tricia provides advice for fintech entrepreneurs throughout the interview.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The founding story of Oak HC/FT.
• Their investment thesis when it comes to fintech.
• Their favorite areas within fintech.
• Why they are stage-agnostic when it comes to writing checks.
• Their geographic focus.
• The total assets they have under management.
• How they invested capital over the last 18-24 months.
• How entrepreneurs should approach raising capital today.
• What the options are for those companies that are struggling.
• How fintech companies can position themselves for M&A today.
• Whether the IPO window will open up any time soon.
• Reflections from her Forbes article on DeFi from last year.
• The types of companies that are having a hard time today.
• How the payments space will evolve over the next few years.
• Why they are bullish on Latin America for fintech.
• What a normal funding environment will look like.
• The most exciting vertical in fintech right now.

Connect with Tricia on LinkedIn
Connect with Oak HC/FT on LinkedIn

Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Hi guys. Welcome to the Fintech Coffee Break. I’m your host, Isabelle Castro, and today I shared my coffee break with Alex de Vries, founder of Digiconomist.

The Digiconomist is laser focused on tracking the ecological impact of DeFi’s largest blockchains. Paying particular attention to bitcoin, Alex has conducted a number of studies into digital currencies and how their increased adoption is compounding issues of emissions and waste without being properly addressed. 

I spoke to Alex about his environmental outlook on blockchains, particularly bitcoin, and what can be done to solve the problem.  

At this time every year, we do the Fintech Nexus USA preview show. Our big annual event is coming up next week on May 10-11. Tickets are still available, you can register here to receive 15% off (discount will be applied automatically).

On this episode of the Fintech One-on-One podcast, I chat with Todd Anderson, Chief Content Officer and Matt Murnane, Chief Experience Officer at Fintech Nexus. We go through all the different components of the show and how you can get the most out of your time there.

In this podcast you will learn:

• What the expo floor at the show will look like.
• How the content will work during the event.
• How people can get involved in one-on-one networking.
• Who gets into the VIP Meetings Lounge.
• Some of the unique experiences available to attendees.
• How the PitchIt contest will work.
• What our Women in Fintech program is all about.
• The different content topics that will be covered this year.
• The layout of the show.
• Highlights on the keynote stage.
• How the Awards Show will work this year.
• What is most exciting about the event.

Connect with Todd on LinkedIn
Connect with Matt on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

PitchIt is back and better than ever for its 9th year!

PitchIt, a competition for fintech startups, provides selected finalists unparalleled access to industry experts and invaluable exposure, branding, and more.

16 semifinalists. Best and Brightest VCs. 1 chance to Change your Future.

Semifinal round 2

• Ascent
• Calque
• Uplinq
• Neofin
• Debbie
• Glide
• LamaAI
• The People's Card

Connect with PitchIt:

• Tweet me @ToddFintech
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous PitchIt episodes
• Email me at [email protected]

Until next time.

On the show this week we discussed fintech news from First Republic, JPMorgan Chase, Pacific Western Bank, Western Alliance Bank, the FDIC, Apple, Venmo, QED Investors, Boston Consulting Group, crypto and more.

One thing that has been driving the fintech industry forward in the last few years has been the growth of infrastructure companies. Building the plumbing for modern finance is one of the hottest areas in all of fintech, particularly when it comes to international finance. This burgeoning fintech-as-a-service subsector has produced some market leaders.

My next guest on the Fintech One-on-One podcast is Arik Shtilman, the CEO and Co-Founder of Rapyd. They are a truly global company operating in more than 100 countries around the world with a team also disbursed throughout the world. And they are growing fast.

In this podcast you will learn:

• The pivot they made initially that led to Rapyd.
• How Arik describes the company today.
• The four different components of fintech-as-a-service.
• How their offering differs between geographies.
• Their big competitive differentiator.
• The number of geographies they operate in today.
• How they approach compliance with so many different countries.
• What they are focused on in the U.S. market.
• The different types of companies that are using their infrastructure.
• What they mean by "Build Bold."
• The size of their team and where they are located.
• Why they chose Dubai for their tech hub.
• Where the biggest opportunities are in fintech today.
• Rapyd's strategy when it comes to M&A.
• Where they are on the path to profitability.
• Arik's thoughts on payments rails and where we are heading.
• The biggest challenges and opportunities in cross-border payments.
• Key findings from their report, The State of B2B Cross-Border Payments.
• Where they are focusing their energy right now.

Connect with Arik Shtilman on LinkedIn
Connect with Rapyd on LinkedIn
Connect with Fintech One-on-One:

• Tweet me @PeterRenton
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Find previous Fintech One-on-One episodes

Hi guys. Welcome to the Fintech Coffee Break. I’m your host, Isabelle Castro, and today I shared my coffee break with Benjamin Gabay, Co-Founder of CrunchDAO.

CrunchDAO brings together thousands of data scientists and PhDs, pooling their collective ideas and strategies through gamification to create predictive financial insights. Now collaborating with financial institutions, they leverage the decentralized nature of the DAO to build more accurate machine-learning models that can power the institutions’ growth.

Heavily involved in improving understanding of DeFi in the wider community of France, they have also been involved in building the country’s first DeFi certification.

I spoke to Benjamin about why they chose the DAO structure and gamification to approach financial machine learning and predictive insights. 

Hi guys. Welcome to the Fintech Coffee Break. I’m your host, Isabelle Castro, and today I shared my coffee break with Robert Mann, Co-Founder and CEO of Standard C.

Standard C is a compliance and risk management software and advisory service for small businesses and community banks. Focused primarily on high-risk and complex businesses, Standard C establishes digital identity credentials, enabling the companies’ streamlined access to financial services.  

I spoke to Robert about the issue of small business access to finance and why the digital identities are so powerful.