TECHNOLOGY
“ VCS , AT THEIR CORE , ARE ACTUALLY FINTECH COMPANIES , SO THERE IS ALWAYS A SYMBIOSIS ”
EZRA GARDNER CO-FOUNDER AND PARTNER AT VARANA CAPITAL
" VCs , at their core , are actually fintech companies , so there is always a symbiosis . Financial systems are always evolving , at times slowly , and at times very rapidly ," said Ezra Gardner , Co-Founder and Partner at Varana Capital . " The evolution is about to get more dramatic than ever ( and we haven ' t even touched on crypto ), and this is why fintech is so necessarily attractive to VCs now ."
Venture capitalists are like the glue that holds the fintech and conventional financial world together , and their role will only increase in the future . Many investment firms , for example , provide backing as early as seed funding and can continue supporting companies through to public listing on NASDAQ and other stock exchanges .
WHAT ARE VENTURE CAPITALISTS LOOKING FOR IN FINTECH COMPANIES ?
Background First and foremost , venture capitalists want to know the team behind the project . It ' s not only about an idea or a product , but it is also important to consider who will lead and innovate these new technologybased concepts .
" We see VCs looking for bold movers in fintech and the ones who also have a credible background . In fintech , startups very often forget that it ' s not simply the tech that flies but ' regtech '. Meaning startups have to know the industry , be able to hack the laws and have respectful relationships with regulators . In the long term , this is the winning combination ," noted Kaidi Ruusalepp , Founder and CEO at Funderbeam .
Problem-solving Second , venture capitalists tend to be on the lookout for startups with the ability to solve real-world problems or align with the future they envision . Many of
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