FINTECH
WHAT MAKES A FINTECH STARTUP A SUCCESS ?
The fintech industry is swiftly becoming the new financial services normal . We talk to six industry experts about launching a successful startup in 2021
WRITTEN BY : JOANNA ENGLAND
The sheer number of fintech companies mushrooming globally is astonishing . For example , according to Statistica , in February 2020 in the US , 8,775 fintech startups were registered . In the same period , there were 7,385 similar startups in Europe , the Middle East , and Africa , followed by 4,765 in the Asia Pacific region .
These emerging enterprises cross several sectors , including education , insurance , retail banking , fundraising and non-profit , investment management , security and the development of cryptocurrencies . And according to
reports , the global fintech market in 2022 , will be worth US $ 309.98bn .
“ I would argue that collaboration is the new competition ”
ANDRA SONEA HEAD OF SOLUTION ARCHITECTURE , FINTECHOS
Fintech startup challenges It ’ s easy to assume that starting a fintech is simple . In theory , all one needs is a good idea , a savvy developer and some investors . But that ’ s only a very small part of the equation , according to
Michael Donald , the CEO of
ImageNPay - the world ' s first imagebased payment system , it takes much more than inspiration and technical knowhow to even arrive at the funding stage . Donald believes the biggest mistake startups make is assuming that everyone will either love their idea or understand it on the first pass .
He says , “ In my experience from both big corporates and multiple ventures that is rarely the case . Secondly , having great presentations which promise the world but when the bonnet is lifted fall far short of something that will be road worthy .”
Fintech startups face a perilous period of knife-edge uncertainty when it comes to success . A
report by Medici shows a staggering nine out of 10 fintech startups fail to get beyond the seed stage , as riskaverse investors prefer to wave their wallets at later-stage companies .
“ Trying to scale too quickly before really understanding your customer values is one mistake startups can make in the early stages ,” says
Colin Munro , Managing Director of
Miconex , a reward programme development company .
“ Pushing ahead before you ’ re ready can mean you spread available resources too