While trying to raise money for their robotics and AI startup Trevor McFredries found an issue that he wanted to change, all investors were white men; he, along with his colleague Sara DeCou, stated they would not accept money unless the investors had a woman or a person of color in a senior position; 400 tech entrepreneurs have banded together to form a coalition called Founders of Change to make real progress on diversity; the group is inspired by the broader movement to make businesses more diverse and include more voices as the old ways of investing need to change. Source.
JoinedNov. 30, 2016
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Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.
Microinvesting fintech app Blast has come up with a new way for individuals to save money, video games; unlike past attempts where a bank has created a savings game, Blast’s idea is to use existing games like League of Legends or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive where players are rewarded for tasks completed; this new style of gamification is not trying to change the user but instead it looks to use the framework of a customers existing life; they are currently starting with a savings account but are seeking partnerships with financial institutions. Source.
Open Banking kicked off in the UK this past January. Thus far we’ve seen slower adoption among traditional banks, a...
German Digital bank N26 has raised $160mn to fund their U.S expansion plans; Tencent and Allianz were lead investors in the round and it could set the stage for a future IPO according to N26 co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf; “It's a good round to be as independent as possible,” Stalf said to TechCrunch. “This funding round really brings N26 to a pre-IPO stage. I think we see a clear path to a very sustainable company with this funding round. Maybe in the next five years there will be an IPO.”; the bank currently has eight staff members in NY and customers have been signing up on the waiting list since October 2017. Source.
Christopher Woolard, the FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition, said he would like to see a collaboration of global regulators to encourage fintech growth; this would be in the style of a global sandbox and would be quite the undertaking but as Mr. Wollard stated, they are up for it; this would allow companies to better understand the regulatory limits and help to stop global issues like money laundering. Source.
The share of cash in 2016 accounted for 12.6 percent of GDP and the forecast includes the share being 11.2 percent by 2021; while new forms of payments are being adopted and card payments still used widely, cash will still play an important role; a few of the main reasons for continued cash usage is people prefer to use cash for small transactions, 27 percent of U.S. consumers are unbanked and fraud has become more widespread which can cause people to use cash more. Source.
The proposed crypto ad ban on Twitter would block ads related to cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges and ICOs; Twitter would be following Google and Facebook who have already instituted blocks on these ads; the ban would come sometime in the next few weeks and would include exceptions; the bans have been seen as proactive steps to root out scams. Source.
Two new working groups were created yesterday, Innovate Finance and City of London Corporation created Fintech Strategy Group and a consortium of fintech companies in Italy creating ItaliaFintech; the groups are meant to help fintech companies collaborate with traditional financial firms and work alongside regulators who want a better understanding of new business models; the working groups come after the European Commission laid out their Fintech Action Plan last week. Source.
While the focus of the new bill that recently passed the Senate has been on banks, it could effect fintech is a big way; the bill releases restrictions on banks, especially smaller one’s, where they can better leverage technology and potentially hurt the market share of fintechs; banks were heavily restricted after the financial crisis when many of these regulations went into effect; if the bill were to be signed then fintechs would have to start ensuring they can be long term sustainable businesses. Source.
The 2018 Joint Economic Report included a section dedicated to cryptocurrencies and blockchain for the first time; the report provides an overview of the nation’s economic status and provides ideas for the next year; this is a big sign for the emerging market as the report is put together by members of the House and Senate; the report says blockchain can be used to help fight cybercrime and protect the nation’s economy and infrastructure; it also states that congress, regulators and the public need to better understand the new technologies. Source.