Hi there,

This month’s newsletter

1. View: All in the i’s - Fintech in 2022 🔮🧿

2. Data:  A global herd - Launch of the FinteCorn Tracker 🦄🦄

3. Event: Future-Fit Fintech - Join us on 17 March 🔭

4. Research: Fintech’s Asian future 🌏🌏

Future-fit fintech

The i’s have it

One month into the New Year and fintech globally is off to a roaring start - with a new unicorn born in the first week after the end of year holidays.

As our new FinteCorn 😂🦄 tracker, launching this month, shows the pandemic has helped the herd of private market fintech firms to flourish globally (more than 2x the number of unicorns were created in 2021 than the entire previous decade).

While the US accounts for more than half the now 200 strong herd of fintech unicorns worldwide - other regions are also doing well at rearing their own:

• Latin America now has 10 unicorns (in 2019 there was 1) 🦄🦄🦄
• The Middle East gave birth to 3 new fintech unicorns in 2020 and 2021 🦄🦄
• Asia Pacific has the highest number of FinteCorns after the US (41) 🎉🎊

We’ll be updating the tracker monthly - and you can download it and the latest insights from our site here. 

With the great reset well underway this month we’re also looking at fintech’s future as the intersection of new technology, redefined workplaces and awareness of the impact of fintech on societies shift priorities across the ecosystem. In this month’s blog we’re looking at the ‘four eyes’ determining fintech’s future. 

Then on 17 March we’re hosting Future-Fit Fintech with Level39 where we’ll be bringing investors, women founders and fintechs together to discuss how we build an ecosystem and industry truly fit for the future. You can find further details and register your interest to attend here.

Simon Hardie

CEO & co-founder, findexable

simon@findexable.com

In the News: Building future-fit fintech: Why is diversity so challenging? And why does it matter?

2021 saw the topics of diversity and inclusion move up almost everybody's agenda. Fintech firms of all sizes agree that a commitment to diversity is a social good and key to building a sustainable future. And yet reality still paints a different picture… Our latest blog  analyses the top challenges across the globe.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel and despite the many obstacles to building a diverse and inclusive fintech, there are success stories out there. Earlier this month, our CEO Simon Hardie shared some initial insights on mechanisms deployed by rapidly-scaling fintech firms to ensure that a ‘baked in’ commitment to diversity is adhered to as they grow with the Fintech Magazine .

findexable live:  Building future-fit finance. Together. - 17 March 2022

Join findexable, Level39 and 100 Women in Finance on 17 March for Building Future-Fit Fintech on 17 March.

The 2021 Diversity Radar revealed barely 1% of venture capital invested in fintech goes to women founded firms.

Join us online on 17 March to hear from global leaders, entrepreneurs and investors who are driving diversity and inclusion across fintech for a live discussion on how we build financial services that are future-ready.

Be part of a live debate and discussion on the actions needed to tackle fintech’s systemic diversity problem and unlock the value of building a future-ready financial services marketplace.

• Practical actions necessary to accelerate diversity in fintech
• Creating value through diversity and gender inclusion
• Building the future workplace & establishing culture at scale
• Share global best practice in building the fintech firm of the future
• Connect investors to diverse and women-led fintech firms
  
  

Join us!

Register here to attend the live event and get your copy of the Diversity for Growth Report.

Fintech Diversity Radar
The Fintech Diversity Radar is a global initiative to drive finclusivity across the global financial innovation ecosystem and meet the target of 30:30 - 30% of fintech firms led by women by 2030.

Our Partners:  Applications open for ‘Women in Fintech’ scholarships

Are you looking to expand your understanding of fintech business models? Check out the Certified Fintech Practitioner programme (CFP) .

We’re working with London Institute of Banking and Finance to give 5 applicants a Women in Fintech Scholarship  (worth £995). Applications are open until 9 February. The 6 weeks course starts on Monday, 7 March.

2 findexable team members took the course in 2021 - read their experience below.

Testimonial from Emily Dodsworth

Finance team, findexable (Autumn 2021)  

“The course provided me with valuable insight into the fintech industry and knowledge that I can apply to my work. I really enjoyed the course and felt inspired by the experts who presented the sessions. “

Testimonial from Chisom Ezeilo

Fintech Diversity Radar (Autumn 2021)

“The course was a thrilling experience. It gave me an opportunity to learn about the industry from world class leaders who were excelling in their areas of expertise. Classes were very interactive and introduced me to a network of fintech professionals. The alumni network has really been helpful.”

Fintech in Asia
Bold choices and rapid change in the Year of the Tiger

If 2021 accelerated the changes brought on by year one of the pandemic - 2022 and a gradual ‘unwind’ of the more outsize pandemic impacts will see fintech play a part in the transition economy.

As business and consumers adjust to hybrid working, financial markets start to rebalance and governments everywhere shore up their infrastructure for the digital economy of the future, fintech firms will be pivotal in the transition.

Nowhere more so than in Asia Pacific where fintech firms in the region’s fast growing and developed markets are innovating across every sphere of the fintech ecosystem from payments to platforms and crypto. As Myles Bertrand, Managing Director - APAC, Mambu, highlighted earlier this month. 

Asia Pacific is now home to the second largest collection of unicorn fintechs in the world (after the US).

Read our Asia Pacific Fintech Rankings research here to find out why.

Accelerating workplace diversity
FinTech Women Walk the Talk

FinTech Women Walk the Talk is a podcast by Nadia Edwards-Dashti to accelerate diversity in fintech firms.

This month Nadia is launching a book including insights of 150 fintech experts, two thirds of them women, as a much needed call to action for diversity in fintech.

Highlighting successes and including practical steps to overcome challenges, the book is a useful exploration of how scaling firms can help build gender equality in the workplace.

For more details and for a copy, please contact Nadia here.