Review European Fintech Awards 2017: diverse, inspiring and consumer oriented

| 02-10-2017 | Pieter de Kiewit |

27 September I visited the European Fintech Awards event in Brussels. I consciously tried to focus on the elements that are relevant for corporate treasurers. After my visit of the Dutch Fintech Awards I had high expectations. I came back inspired, though not all was relevant. This is my review.

The organisation was done by Alex van Groningen Different from the Dutch Fintech Awards, the audience was not centralized in one hall, but spread out. In parallel there were (keynote) speakers, contestants were pitching in groups of three, we had companies with a stand who did separate pitches and there were discussion sessions. One on one meetings were facilitated in a separate room, using a convenient app. Making choices was inevitable.

Keynote speaker opening the event was Chris Skinner. As an expert in the field and experienced speaker he was able to inspire and inform the audience. Hindsight I would have chosen to attend more of the panel discussions. Topics only touched upon by Chris were placed in a broader perspective, further information was added. The expertise level of the panel members was impressive.

As to the companies with a stand, I wonder if there was a proper match between them and the audience. I doubt if any deals were made. Of course networking is not always to land an instant deal. What I did notice is that the majority of the companies had a strong consumer focus. There was a lot of talk about b-to-b-to-c marketing: offering fintech solutions that enable your client to server consumers. I found a few companies offering potentially interesting products for corporate treasurers, I will inform you about them separately.

Looking back, two things, I took from the event, stand out. The first is that innovation is not about “creating faster horses” (car replaced horse), but about creating entirely new markets. The second is that fintech is maturing. The technologists, entrepreneurs and existing market parties are telling a more balanced and understandable story. For the corporate treasury community this is an interesting event, but only once a year. Perhaps we will see each other next year.

 

 

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search