STAY IN THE LOOP ON EVERYTHING FINTECH
Empire Startups is the largest community of FinTech entrepreneurs, investors, and bank innovators in the world. Every 2 weeks we'll deliver interviews with top thought-leaders, venture funding news, curated podcasts, events, and more.
HIGHLIGHTING FINTECH LEADERS
OUR INTERVIEW WITH NICOLAS KOPP
Digital-first banking is on a head-long dive into the hearts of the modern, tech-savvy consumer. Traditional banks are feeling the pressure with U.S. bank closures reaching record highs in 2018.
Berlin-based FinTech startup N26 Inc. aims to answer the question: Do we really need brick-and-mortar banks? If the recent additional $170 million of Series D funding is any indicator, the answer may be a resounding, collective ‘No!’ The European masses and N26 investors agree, resulting in N26 sitting as one of the top-ten FinTech startups by valuation. Will they realize the same success state-side?
Orchestrating the U.S. market foray is US CEO Nicolas Kopp, who is undoubtedly already planning his next conquest: the underbanked of Winterfell. He’s joined by a mighty army of FinTech devotees. Together, Nic and his dedicated band will make certain we never have to ‘stand in line just to hear the bank has closed’ again.
Keep an eye on this fast-mover. Here’s our interview with Nic Kopp…
FINTECH NEWS
Fortune
Apple follows up on its racial equity pledge
Remember last summer, when corporations went to great lengths to assert their racial diversity and social justice credentials as protests gripped the country after the...
Fortune
Plaid without Visa? It might be a blessing in disguise
Two hours after officially cancelling his $5.3 billion deal with Visa, Zach Perret doesn’t sound like a guy who just walked away from a lifechanging...
Fortune
Want to be a better mentor? 7 surprising ways to improve
I decided to leave my senior-management job last year to launch my own startup. Once the initial shock wore off, my boss and I dived...
WSJ
Visa Abandons Plaid Acquisition of After DOJ Challenge
Visa Inc. abandoned its $5.3 billion planned acquisition of financial-technology firm Plaid Inc. amid a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit that challenged the deal. The department...
The Financial Brand
How Banks Can Keep Big Techs from Dominating Contactless Payments
Consumers worldwide are showing a preference for secure contactless payment options, and tech giants are trying to corner a lion’s share of these transactions. But...
FINTECH VENTURE FUNDING
Digital Asset Management Firm Arca Raises $10 Million in Series A Funding
Historically, Q1 is the busiest time of the year for FinTech fundraising. We have a paltry ~30 deals so far this year – did everyone get the memo?
A quick glance at the sub-sectors in our list this week shows two curious outliers: wealth management and personal finance. The Empire Brain Trust isn’t surprised, given firms began to re-evaluate partners in light of the increasing shift-to-digital brought on by pandemic restrictions globally. Consumers followed suit, shifting to digital banks for a host of reasons – rapid access to stimulus funds being one compelling reason.
With the above, we offer one prediction for 2021: partner re-evaluation continues for the foreseeable future and so venture capitalists place bigger bets. Now onto the show [...]
Q4 FinTech Deals
Q4 Capital Raised (M)
2020 FinTech Deals
2020 Capital Raised (M)
FINTECH PODCASTS
What's one of the easiest ways to stay up on FinTech trends? Here's a short list of a few of close friends of Empire who just happen to have 🔥 podcasts.
Join The Future Farm's Vladi and Nektarios, in a “naked” conversation with the people who have been through it all. We’ll talk to business founders, investors, life partners and other ecosystem players about the personal challenges that business builders face when pursuing their dreams and passions.
LATEST EPISODE
For Fintech’s Sake is a broad look at the world of fintech. Host, Zach Anderson Pettet, explores the stories at the intersection of finance and technology from the perspectives of Founders, Investors, and Incumbents.
LATEST EPISODE
Fintech Insider is a bi-weekly podcast dedicated to all things fintech, banking, technology and financial services. Hosted by a rotation of experts and joined weekly by fantastic guests, they discuss the latest news within the industry.