Looking for a dive into the top fintech startups in Europe?
Look no further. Tomorrow, some of the top startups in Europe will go head to head. Our second group of semifinalists in Pitchit’s Startup Summit competition will pitch their ideas live in front of a panel of fintech industry vets to compete for the gold prize.
In case you missed it, the first batch of semifinalists scrapped in a live pitch-off Tuesday, Nov 9.
All are part of the free LendIt Fintech European Startups Summit; startups have ten minutes to discuss how their idea will transform their targeted niche.
The Contenders
In tomorrow’s bout, we’ll see eight contenders from across the fintech-verse.
There’s Axia Funder, a startup that offers the ability to invest in litigation settlements, democratizing an asset class few knew existed. Branxware, a lending-as-a-service company, offers tech to enable business financing of every kind. Connect Earth enables companies to put environmental consciousness tools directly in their products, like tracing carbon footprint.
German firm Nect hopes to automate easy and secure identification technology. Heron Data custom curates transaction data, and ITS CREDIT empowers the credit process for digital banking products, Kalgera helps firms with pesky compliance while flagging customer risk factors. Finally, Lucesi has created a one-click B2B payment option for anything from leasing to insuring.
Next week, watch the final pitch-off where the winners of the semi-finals will go head to head, part of a two-day event. On Tuesday, take part in a full day of networking with over 2,000 meetings planned. Then, an action-packed day of sessions is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov 17.
Even before the pandemic, the startup scene in Europe was exploding. Trends have changed in banking, payments, lending, and more. Check out a quick preview of the live panels chaired by industry vets.
Nurturing the startup community
At 2 p.m. GMT, join Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, “the voice of UK fintech,” in discussing how everyone from investors in startup communities to even the highest levels of government fosters fintech development in the UK. Learn how Innovate Finance maintained a leadership role in the UK fintech ecosystem despite the challenges of Brexit and the pandemic. The panel will be moderated by Peter Renton, fielding questions and input from the audience.
Success Stories from the fintech tranches.
At 2:30 p.m., watch an all-star cast of company founders tell their tale of success, sharing wisdom about how they climbed to the top. John Goodall of Landbay, Shachar Bialick of Curve, Emma Steeley of AccountScore, and James Meekings, of Funding Circle will share their insight, moderated by LendIt CEO Bo Brustkern. Join these top execs as they explore what they wish they knew, what challenges they faced, and how they evaluated investors before their process turned to progress.
Ecosystem Turbocharging Fintech
Finally, at 3:15 p.m., check out how investor mentorship and technology partnerships combine to push for scale, with Sam Lawson from Crowd Cube, Stuart Barclay at Trustly, and Rana Yared from Balderton Capital. Moderator Clive Rich will help guide a provoking discussion of how the pieces come together along the startup journey.
Suppose the amount of VC funding this past year means anything. In that case, it’s that fintechs have built themselves into a force to be reckoned with, challenging tradition and implementing better customer experience.
Make sure to tune in by 11 a.m. GMT to catch the live pitch-off, with a final winner announced by the end of the day.
