Wharton FinTech Podcast

In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Co-Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, a revolutionary company building the digital payments infrastructure for Africa that’s enabling businesses to receive or make payments across the continent and the entire globe. Launched in 2016, Flutterwave has grown at an astonishing rate and in 2019 processed 107 million transactions worth $5.4 billion. The company has also raised over $55 million in equity from a long list of top VCs, including Y-Combinator, Visa Ventures, Fintech Collective, Endeavor, Mastercard, Golden Palm Investments, and many more! Olugbenga Agboola Olugbenga Agboola is the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave. Prior to co-founding Flutterwave, Olugbenga contributed to the development of fintech solutions at several tech companies and financial institutions such as PayPal, Standard Bank, among others. He is a serial entrepreneur with two successful exits under his belt. He is a software engineer with a master's degree in information technology security and behavioral engineering and an MBA. About Flutterwave Flutterwave is a technology company headquartered in San Francisco with operations and offices across Africa and Europe. The company was launched in 2016 with the goal of building digital payments infrastructure for Africa and enable businesses to receive or make any payments across Africa and globally. Since inception, Flutterwave has processed billions of dollars across all product platforms and has been the recipient of several awards including the "Top 100 Fintech Firms" around the world.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Sebastian Ceria, CEO of Qontigo, a NY-based global company that combines the most sophisticated risk analytics and portfolio-construction tools in the market, while also offering indexing services. Qontigo has over 550 employees, but it’s one of those revolutionary and successful companies most people haven’t heard of. Prior to launching his own venture, Sebastian was an Associate Professor of Decision, Risk and Operations at Columbia Business School. But after seeing the incredible entrepreneurial success from some of his former students, he decided to leave academia and launch his own ventures in 1998. About Qontigo Qontigo is a financial intelligence innovator and a leader in the modernization of investment management, from risk to return. The combination of the group’s world-class indices and best-of-breed analytics, underpinned by technological expertise and customer-driven innovation, enables its clients to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing marketplace. Qontigo’s global client base includes the world’s largest financial products issuers, capital owners and asset managers. Created in 2019 through the combination of Axioma, DAX and STOXX, Qontigo is part of Deutsche Börse Group, headquartered in Eschborn with key locations in New York, Zug and London.

In this episode, Miguel Armaza interviews Steve Pretre, Partner at World Innovation Labs, a US and Japan-based venture capital fund with investors from governments and corporations in Japan and throughout Asia. Steve is also a fintech veteran with particular expertise in the insurance space, having spent several years at RMS and Asurion as an operator and then co-founding Metromile, one of the very first insurtech innovators that leveraged technology to build a better and cheaper consumer product. Steve is an MBA graduate from the Wharton School and holds two bachelor degrees from Stanford University. Steve Pretre Steve Pretre is a veteran of multiple successful startups with deep operating experience across product development, marketing, and strategic planning. In his current role as Partner at World Innovation Lab, Steve works with leading startups in the fintech and insurtech space, including Ladder, PeerStreet, and Unqork. Prior to joining World Innovation Lab, Steve was the co-founder and CEO of Metromile, an early innovator that paved the path for the current wave of insurance startups. He held executive roles at Asurion, leading their mobile applications business unit as the company grew to a multi-billion dollar provider of mobile device insurance sold through the wireless carriers. He was the first marketing and product lead at RMS, which developed predictive risk modeling software that became the defacto standard for pricing and transfer of catastrophe risk for the global insurance industry. Steve holds an MBA from the Wharton School, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar, and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. About World Innovation Lab World Innovation Lab (WiL) is a US & Japan-based VC firm with capital from governments and leading global corporations in Japan and throughout Asia - including Sony, Suzuki, NTT, KDDI, 7-Eleven & others. WiL invests in companies that are ready to scale and enter new markets. The firm helps US startups expand to Japan and Asia, and Japanese startups expand worldwide. Recent direct company investments include Algolia, Asana, Automation Anywhere, Auth0, DataRobot, Kong, Mercari, MURAL, TransferWise, and Unqork. In addition to direct investment, WiL invests in exceptional venture funds - both established and emerging. WiL also works with its corporate investors on evolving their own innovation capabilities through new business creation, partnerships with leading startups, and organizational culture change. WiL acts as the bridge between startups and corporates across key innovation hubs around the globe in driving growth - starting with Japan and the US.

In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech Podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG’21) is joined by Rajan Bajaj, Co-Founder and CEO of Slice. Slice is a fintech startup that offers payment and credit solutions for people between the ages of 18 and 29. Slice is one of India's top card issuers and generated net profits within four years of its inception. Rajan graduated from IIT Kharagpur in India and built products for Flipkart Marketplace in its hatching phase. Rajan's unit was the fastest-growing business unit at the company during his tenure. Afterward, Rajan founded Mesh, a furniture rental startup. In this interview, Rajan shares: - His journey as an entrepreneur and motivations for launching Slice - The financial habits of India’s Gen-Z - How Slice compares to other card issuers and financial institutions - The future of digital payments in India and COVID's impact - Slice’s business model and the challenges of fraud, underwriting risk, etc. in India

Miguel Armaza interviews Edith Yeung and Chris McCann, General partners of Race Capital, a Venture Capital fund looking for market-transforming companies. Edith is also an author and creator of the China Internet Report, an annual report on China technology trends as well as the writer of Silicon.news – a weekly briefing on Silicon Valley news. Chris is an entrepreneur turned investor who previously founded and led the community program at Greylock Partners. In this interview, we talked about their background, investing strategy, and we even explore the Chinese fintech ecosystem.

In this podcast, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sandy Kemper, Founder & CEO of C2FO, the world’s largest platform for working capital financing. C2FO serves over a million businesses representing over 10 trillion dollars in annual sales across more than 180 countries and their platform connects over 100 billion dollars of daily volume. Truly a global financial powerhouse! C2FO is a Series G company and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from elite investors like Temasek, Union Square Ventures, Softbank, Allianz, Citi Ventures, Tiger Global and many more. Sandy has had a long and successful career in banking, technology, fintech, and asset management and he even told us how he turned his art collecting passion into a profitable business. Alexander “Sandy” C. Kemper Sandy is the founder of C2FO and serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of The Collectors Fund, a private equity fund focused on alternative asset classes. Prior to founding The Collectors Fund and C2FO, Sandy founded Perfect Commerce (fka eScout) and served as the company’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 2000-06. Prior to founding Perfect Commerce, he served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of UMB Bank and CEO of UMB Financial, a NASDAQ traded financial services company more than $20 billion in assets. Sandy began his career with UMB after graduating from Northwestern University in 1987. He majored in American History. Sandy is an active angel and venture investor and serves on the corporate boards of UMB Financial (NASDAQ: UMBF), UMB Bank, NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), and AXA Art USA (NYSE: AXA). He previously served on the board of Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe) and BATS Exchange, two of the largest stock exchanges in the world. Sandy and his family are active in academic, civic and philanthropic endeavors. He serves on the board of the Agriculture Future of America (AFA), a non-profit scholarship and leadership development organization that he co-founded. Sandy and his family live on a farm in Kansas City, Mo., where they raise and care for their horses, sheep and any and all wild animals (not including their four children). About C2FO C2FO is the world’s largest platform for working capital. We serve over one million businesses representing $10.5 trillion in annual sales across more than 180 countries. Our online platform connects more than $100 billion of daily accounts payable and accounts receivable. Whether you need working capital or have excess working capital, Name Your Rate™, and the C2FO platform will match your request in seconds. You can accelerate or extend AP or AR on demand, providing you, your customers and your suppliers greater control over cash flow. You can also utilize AR financing and other data-driven funding options. C2FO is working capital, working for everyone. Our mission is to deliver a future where every company in the world has the capital needed to grow. To learn more, visit C2FO.com.

In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sheel Mohnot, Co-Founder of Better Tomorrow, a $70 million venture capital fund that invests in seed-stage Fintech companies around the world. His own startup experience includes 2 successful FinTech exits – a payments company and a high-stakes auction firm, and he is also a General Partner of the 500 Fintech fund. He formerly worked as a financial services consultant at BCG and started his FinTech career at Kiva, a non-profit p2p lender. In this interview, we explore Sheel’s background, his journey as a fintech operator and entrepreneur, the transition from Angel Investor to Venture Capitalist, and his approach to evaluating seed-stage fintech investing opportunities.

It's no secret that FinTech has boomed during COVID as workers, companies, and everyday people were forced to digitize their lives. But by how much is FinTech changing people's lives, and are they happy with this transition? In today's episode, Ryan Zauk sits down with Plaid's John Pitts to discuss the company's inaugural report with the Harris Poll analyzing FinTech in the wake of COVID (and plenty of other topics). Plaid and the Harris Poll surveyed the nation to understand consumer behavior changes and preferences, and whether they will last through this COVID crisis. Report Link: https://plaid.com/the-fintech-effect-2020-consumer-report/ Though Plaid needs no introduction, it is a data transfer network that powers Fintech and digital finance products by enabling applications to connect with users' bank accounts. Prior to Plaid, John was one of the first hires at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Before the CFPB, he was an associate at Orrick, Herrington, and Sutcliffe. John is a graduate of UPenn's Carey School of Law and Kenyon College. In today's episode, John covers a lot of ground including: - His time at the CFPB and their initial assessment of Bitcoin - Comparing and contrasting the US, UK, Canadian, and EU fintech regulatory landscape - Why he's so excited about Canada's fintech prospects - Their landmark study with the Harris Poll on FinTech adoption during COVID - Where the government went right and wrong during its stimulus efforts And much more For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

In this episode, Miguel Armaza interviews Stefan Möller, Co-Founder and CEO of Klar, a Mexican challenger bank working to democratize debit and credit in Mexico. Klar is making credit accessible to all Mexicans, including those with no credit history. It helps people build credit by looking at how and where they spend their money, without having to rely on obsolete and traditional credit scores. Klar’s business has experienced rapid growth having issued over 25,000 credit lines amongst its 200,000 customers in less than 12 months and their growth has tripled during the pandemic. Klar has raised almost $73 million in debt and equity from some of the most prestigious funds in the industry, including Prosus Ventures, the World Bank’s IFC, Quona, Mouro Capital, aCrew, FJ Labs, and Gilgamesh Ventures*. Stefan Möller Stefan Möller is the Co-Founder and CEO of Klar, a Mexican challenger bank working to democratize debit and credit in Mexico. Before starting Klar, Stefan was a Venture Director at Nova Founders Capital, a global fintech investment company where he learned first hand the challenges faced by consumers seeking access to decent financial services. Before Nova Founders, Stefan worked as a consultant at Bain and Company where he developed a deep understanding of the limitations faced by financial institutions in their path to digital transformation. Prior to that, Stefan developed several entrepreneurial ventures in Mexico and Germany. Stefan has an MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona, and a BA in Economics from the Goethe Institut in Frankfurt and studies in Yale university. About Klar Klar has been working to democratize financial services in Mexico since 2019 by offering a 100% digital, transparent, free and secure alternative to traditional credit and debit services. Unlike traditional financial institutions, Klar provides consumers with a unique set of features and benefits. For more information visit: www.klar.mx * Miguel Armaza is a Co-Founder of Gilgamesh Ventures and a proud supporter of Klar.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Irene Arias Hofman, CEO of IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion by supporting early-stage entrepreneurial solutions capable of transforming the lives of vulnerable populations. Previously, Irene worked for 20 years at the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where she managed the Financial Institutions Group and also the LAC region with its 16-billion- dollar portfolio. Her focus has been on innovation and technology, venture capital, and organizational development.

In our latest episode, Hinal Shah (WG’20) is joined by Michael Sidgmore, a Partner at Broadhaven Ventures. Broadhaven is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage investment opportunities at the intersection of financial services and technology. Broadhaven Ventures is a VC fund affiliated with Broadhaven Capital Partners, an independent fintech investment bank that has done over $50 billion in transaction volume. Broadhaven Ventures has investments in companies like Liveoak (acquired by DocuSign), Credijusto, Kyash, MoneyLion, Starship, BioCatch, Harvest Wealth, Kovi, and Nowports. Michael Sidgmore is also a Venture Partner at Goodwater Capital, a consumer tech VC that has invested in fintech companies including Toss, Monzo, Stash, Kyash, and Tide, amongst others. Prior to Broadhaven, Michael was an operator at two different fintech startups, where he helped build their sales teams. He was employee #8 at iCapital Network and was the first sales hire at Mosaic. Michael started his career on Goldman Sachs' Principal Strategic Investments Group in London. Michael holds a BSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics. In this interview, Michael shares: - Broadhaven’s approach to fintech investing globally - The types of business they seek out - Fintech opportunities in emerging markets and future trends to watch - The impact of COVID-19 and the opportunities it may bring for fintech and non-fintech players - Advice for those looking to enter venture capital or start/join fintech companies And much more…

In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Anu Shultes, CEO of LendUp, a mission-driven fintech company focused on expanding access to credit and creating pathways to better financial health. A 25-year veteran of the financial services industry, Anu has a personal mission to lift people out of poverty and infuses her work with her passion for financial inclusion. Anu’s career spans a broad spectrum of roles across subprime credit cards, subprime loans, and prepaid cards. Her significant experience building efficient operational processes and teams to support them has led her to become one of the few female CEOs in fintech. LendUp is backed by a long list of top VCs, including QED, PayPal Ventures, Google Ventures, Y-Combinator, Thomvest, Radicle, Data Collective, Susa Ventures, and many more!

In today’s episode of the Wharton FinTech Podcast, Ryan Zauk sits down with Rob Underwood, Chief Development Officer of FINOS. FINOS, short for the FinTech Open Source Foundation, is a global community creating open-source solutions for financial services. As a community of people, companies, and events, FINOS’s purpose is to accelerate collaboration and innovation in financial services through the adoption of open-source software, standards, and best practices. Their 30+ member organizations include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Github, Citi, Symphony, and many more. They have over 300 contributors developing over 40 open-source projects. Before FINOS, Rob served as CTO at Relay Graduate School of Education; was Executive Director of TeachCS; founded CodeBrooklyn; and later, after starting his own consulting firm, TTM Advisors, advised and consulted for edtech startups such as Codesters. Before these roles, Rob was a senior manager at Deloitte Consulting, LLP and KPMG Consulting/BearingPoint. Earlier in life, Rob spent time both teaching and working in Japan after graduating from Colby College. In this episode, Rob covers: - The genesis of FINOS and its purpose - How the world’s leading financial services and tech companies get involved with FINOS - How these brutally competitive firms work together - Some of the most exciting projects they’re taking on - His love for the Grateful Dead and Phish …And much more To learn more about FINOS, you can click the links below as well as find Rob on Twitter at @BrooklynRob. perspective.finos.org fdc3.finos.org landscape.finos.org www.twitter.com/brooklynrob For more insights and analysis from FinTech leaders, follow us below: Medium: https://medium.com/wharton-fintech WFT Twitter: https://twitter.com/whartonfintech Ryan's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanZauk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wharton-fintech-club/

In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Greg Krasnov , Founder & CEO of tonik, a digital bank in the Philippines with a mission to revolutionize the way money works in Southeast Asia. Tonik is backed by major industry investors, including Sequoia Capital, Point72 Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and Credence Partners. Greg is a serial entrepreneur at heart and launched his first business at the age of 18. Prior to starting tonik, he invested in, co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups through his Singapore-based fintech venture builder called FORUM. Greg is also a talented musician and, as a bonus for our listeners, we have included some of his work at the end of the interview. Greg Krasnov Greg is the Founder & CEO of tonik (www.tonikbank.com), the first digital neobank in the Philippines, and one of the few neobanks globally that is operating on the basis of its own bank license. tonik is backed by major international Venture Capital investors, including Sequoia Capital, Point72 Ventures, Insignia Ventures, and Credence Partners. Prior to starting tonik, Greg co-founded and chaired four other successful fintech startups in Asia: Credolab (www.credolab.com), FLOW (www.flow-tech.ai), Solarhome (www.solar-home.asia), and AsiaKredit (www.asiakredit.com). Greg invested into and supported these ventures through his Singapore-based fintech venture builder FORUM (www.forum-cap.com), in partnership with some of the leading Venture Capital funds in Southeast Asia. Prior to moving to Asia, Greg was the Founder/CEO of one of the top private equity-backed success stories in Consumer Lending in Eastern Europe, Platinum Bank (Ukraine), which was exited in 2013 generating over $150 million for the investors. Before that, Greg spent 10 years in Private Equity in Europe at Bank of America (London) and Innova Capital (Warsaw). A serial entrepreneur at heart, Greg’s launched his first business at the age of 18, earning his way through college in the USA through coding and PC repair. Global citizen, having lived in 8 countries across 3 continents, and done business in 40+ countries, currently residing in Singapore. Married, with one son. Lifelong hobbies include sailing and music. Considering balance to be key to a successful life, Greg had lived and cruised Southeast Asia aboard a sailboat for 2 years with his family, as well as recorded two albums, one of which is published on Spotify. Greg is a long-standing member of the global Young President’s Organization (www.ypo.org), and the Founder of its Kyiv Chapter. Fluent in English, Polish, and Russian. Graduate of Cambridge University (UK) and Arizona State University (USA).

In this episode, Miguel Armaza sits down with Sean Collins and Bill McNichols, Co-Founders of Goldfinch Partners, a Private Equity firm focused on enterprise technology companies that power digital transformation, with a focus on marketing, Commerce, Payments, FinTech, Supply Chain, and Human Capital. Prior to Goldfinch, Sean was Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of BCG Digital Ventures, where he oversaw investments globally into 75+ ventures and Bill was the Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at Starbucks where he led over 40 transactions including more than $11 billion of acquisitions, divestitures and investments. Sean Collins Sean has over 20 years of experience investing, advising, operating, and building companies focused on digital transformation. Prior to Goldfinch, Sean was Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of BCG Digital Ventures, where he oversaw investments globally into 75+ ventures. Prior to BCG DV, he was SVP of E-commerce, Marketing, and Strategy at the Sports Authority where he helped engineer a turnaround that leveraged digital marketing and e-commerce to drive revenue growth. Previously, he was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company where he advised Retail, TMT, and Private Equity clients. Sean holds a BA from Whitman College in Economics & Music. Bill McNichols Bill has more than 20 years experience as an investor and operator. Prior to co-founding Goldfinch, Bill was SVP of Corporate and Business Development at Starbucks where he led over 40 transactions including more than $11 billion of acquisitions, divestitures and investments along with numerous commercial partnerships. Prior to Starbucks, Bill was a senior investment professional at Vulcan Capital, where his portfolio included DreamWorks, Oxygen Media, and TowerCo. Bill began his career at Gleacher & Co where he focused on advisory and investment work in the CPG, quick service restaurant and TMT sectors. Bill holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA with high honors from Colgate University. Goldfinch Partners Founded in 2018, Goldfinch Partners invests in the enterprise technology companies that power digital transformation. Goldfinch thematically invests in the sectors and spaces they know deeply, including Marketing, Commerce, Payments, FinTech, Supply Chain, and Human Capital.