The Exchanges

Q Okay. I got it. All right. So buzz move. They've, they've raised a bunch of capital. You said you don't look at this like an investment though. How do you make an accelerator, like what you're building sustainable over the longterm, if you're not getting any kind of investment returns?

A So our program is funded by the industry players who participate in this. So when we have Uh, 10 banks in one program or in, in the insurtech program, we've got 17 insurtech partners, insurance industry players who put money into the program. So for us, this is really what funds the program, what gives us the money to pay the salaries, to give the cash to the teams, et cetera, et cetera. And, and we really see this as a tool for the industry on the one side. So we don't really necessarily build these programs to make money out of this. This is not what drives us. We keep usually one to two percent of the equity. And if one day further down the track, one of these companies is going to grow big, we'll have some upside, but it will be so diluted that even that is not necessarily what drives us. It's really, it's really to be that glue between the two sides. It's, it sounds altruistic because to a large extent it is.

AI assessment note: “our program is funded by the industry players who participate in this.”

Q Okay, very good. So tell us first, how does the accelerator work, uh, and what are you focused on?

A Um, um, we're a network of accelerators. Uh, we, we're very traditional in the sense that it's a 13 week program, just like what, what we've known for years. Uh, it's mentor driven, it's cohort based, which means the teams have to move to, to the location where we run the program. But the key thing, and, and this is where we're different, is the, the programs we run are very much industry focused programs. So they're not so much about, hey, we're going to meet some cool startups and the first thing they'll get out of this when they finish the program will be funding. Funding is a side effect. The key thing here is that these is, these are industries that are heavily regulated and where the startups usually come with a B to B proposition. So what they need is access to the right players within a bank, within an insurer, so they can get their first pilot or the first proof of concept off the ground. And that's really what we focus on.

AI assessment note: “it's a 13 week program... mentor driven... very much industry focused”

Q It's because it's an unsexy space, right? Nobody, no entrepreneur wants to go think about insurance, right?

A You know what? I think we have sort of We're close to reaching peak fintech when it comes to the hype, and little by little, entrepreneurs are figuring out that, that the insurance space is, is potentially more lucrative, it's less crowded, there's a bigger, there's so many problems to solve, they're waking up to this, but we, we, we know that when we go out to, to, to attract entrepreneurs to come into the program, um, we, we have a different approach when we talk to the insurtech people. We actually try to get them to understand that they are relevant for the industry because they usually see themselves as, I don't know, Big data startups or AI companies, but never, never self-identify as insurtech.

AI assessment note: “little by little, entrepreneurs are figuring out that, that the insurance space is, is potentially more lucrative”

Q Okay, so let's, well, did they, so that they acquire you and now you're leading startup bootcamps? How does that work?

A Uh, no, it, it, um, started growing very organically. Uh, we started off as a, hey, some people are doing cool stuff in the U S we should bring something like this to Europe. Um, and then it started in Copenhagen. Then he moved to places like Berlin and Amsterdam. Um, and little by little, we started focusing on, uh, bringing in a sort of a particular type of theme. So we had a mobile or an NFC program. Um, but, um, at the end of To add real value, you need to be super sharp on your focus, and this is where we started together there. So we've been talking for a while at that point about doing something together for fintech, um, and in London. So then I joined to launch the fintech program in London with that specific focus. So we have a bunch of banks and a few other players, uh, funding and supporting the program.

AI assessment note: “Uh, no, it, it, um, started growing very organically.”

Q And how many people are on your team there to run it?

A Um, so every, every location has about five people. The company behind Setup Woodcom, the guys who are running Setup Woodcom FinTech and, and, um, and InsurTech, we, we are called Rainmaking Innovation. What we do is corporate innovation. So what we do is we actually make money out of the corporate engagements that go outside the accelerator. So we sit down with a large bank, with a large insurer, and we have very honest conversations about the innovation needs. And the accelerator piece could be one of them because this is where they want to do some early stage stuff. They want to have that visibility, et cetera. But then they have internal innovation needs. They have, they need to understand how to, um, change the culture in the company to be more entrepreneurial, how to get people to understand what they need to do, how to, uh, educate the executives, but also very concrete projects all the way to co-creating businesses with the corporates. And, and all of this is what we make money from. So the accelerator in that sense is not necessarily driven by By a commercial perspective.

AI assessment note: “every location has about five people”

Q I mean, who, what, what, what, uh, qualities will determine the winner in that space?

A You see, um, I think there's some fundamental questions around if RoboAdvice in itself is a sustainable business. Um, I don't think the large incumbents will actually be able to catch up. Um, and it's really, seriously, I wish I could give you an opinion, but I'm finding it really difficult because it's still so early stage. One of the things that we all forget Is that even, I mean, fintech as a term hasn't been around for more than five, six years. Um, so all these companies, even the ones who've raised a lot of money, like a wealth fund or a betterment, even the ones who have already consumers and lots of assets under management, I find it really difficult to predict that one or the other will succeed because there's still so many outstanding, so many question marks. I think what is exciting is that the incumbents are waking up to this now, the, the, the corporations that are figuring out, oh my God, we're about to miss the train. What are we going to do? Um, And, and they're trying to build similar products to the consumers, and they can't, because they're just not capable, as you just said. So the interesting thing is, how will these organizations, how will a Wealthfront or Betterment manage to partner with the right large corporations to deliver a better service and make their business sustainable? Because at the moment, I'm still kind of curious to see how sustainable the…

AI assessment note: “I wish I could give you an opinion, but I'm finding it really difficult”