Adrian Nazari

Curious about how we spot the most unobvious winners at seed? It’s simple - we invest in those we’d never want to bet against. In 2017 slice was a scrappy fintech financing smartphones for college students. Today, it’s set to become India’s first true digital bank, catering to the needs of India’s Gen Z. With this merger, Slice is poised to simplify digital banking for a billion Indians, establishing a new gold standard of customer-focused banking.

146

3 Comments

Ever since we launched SHAKTI, every quarter we write a letter to our LPs = Each letter includes an update on the portfolios, the GP's (our) view on the zeitgeist, an interview with a portfolio CEO and an interview with a TITAN = So far, we have 16 such letters = it's been on our "to do" list to share these publicly (i am lazy) = then Google comes along to save lazy people like me (thank you NotebookLLM) = here's a 10 min podcast summarizing our journey since Dec/2020 with the 16 LP letters as source = if you wanted to know what we are about, this is a pretty good place to start = https://lnkd.in/db7K2TrT cc SHAKTI

65

5 Comments

Don’t throw the baby out with the BaaS water Imagine if any business could offer banking services without the headache of building their own payment, lending and settlement infrastructure – this is the power of BaaS (Banking as a Service). By granting third parties access to bank systems, BaaS allows companies to integrate banking functions directly into their products effortlessly. This transformation, often termed “Embedded Finance,” is reshaping how financial services are consumed and delivered. 💸 Embedded Finance at Scale By 2026, embedded finance revenues in the U.S. are projected to more than double, reaching $51 billion, and worldwide revenues are expected to quadruple to over $160 billion (source: Bain & Company). More impressively, over $7 trillion in transactions will be processed through embedded financial services. This growth underscores the vested interest both banks and users have in making these services ubiquitous and continuously modernized. ⛔️ The Middleware Misstep Not all implementations of BaaS have been successful. The middleware approach to BaaS has faced significant challenges. It's not BaaS itself but the middleware architecture that has faltered, as illustrated by the recent struggles of Synapse. As QED Investors' Amias Gerety recently highlighted it, the BaaS model may be stronger without the middleware layer that Synapse represented (👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dgg76UTc). The industry's evolution from these challenges has made it more resilient and robust. 🏦 Banks are Back The pendulum is swinging back to incumbent banks, which are regaining their lead role in the ecosystem. While Fintech players initially propelled embedded financial services, incumbent banks, with their robust compliance and risk management practices, are indispensable. These banks are now augmenting their existing transactional and risk infrastructures (AML, KYC) to enable new Fintech offerings swiftly and in line with regulatory standards. This shift provides immediate alternatives to struggling middleware players and lays the groundwork for a new enablement layer atop core banking systems. ☁️ The Platform Approach Financial institutions would benefit from pivoting from the BaaS middleware provider model towards developing their own platforms. Why? This internal approach mitigates the risks and compliance gaps inherent in middleware. By collaborating with vetted software vendors, banks can build resilient and scalable platforms addressing key areas of compliance, risk management, documentation, resilience and transparency - all in real-time. In short, the BaaS model is far from broken. It simply needs a refined approach, leveraging the strengths of incumbent banks to build a more resilient, compliant, and innovative financial ecosystem. Let's not throw the baby out with the BaaS water.

78

4 Comments

Catch another episode of This Week in Startups where Upfront Managing Partner Mark Suster interviews Max Altman and Ben Braverman, two of the three co-founders of Saga Ventures. With Saga’s new $125 million fund, the trio talk about: ➡ Fundraising challenges the co-founders faced as a first-time fund and the playbook of how referrals can be the best leads for increasing the chances of success ➡ Nuances of determining a fund size to maintain competitive advantages in deal strategies ➡ Ben’s learnings from working with Ryan Peterson at Flexport as well as Max’s experience and unique advantages working with his brothers Jack and Sam Here's a short clip below about the attributes of successful founders that they look for, including those willing to take unconventional risks 👇

20

That planning season is upon us once more - almost like it’s an annual thing :) The more informed you are the more realistic the planning the cycle - especially in a new market transition cycle (here we go again!) Join Randy Wootton and Maxio break down all dimensions of growth and operations with data points across the SaaS market to build a plan rooted in market reality 🔥

8

Fin Capital’s Fintech CEO Pulse Report is out! We surveyed over 50 CEOs and C-suite leaders of private companies from our portfolio and the broader fintech industry during June and July 2024 to get a quick pulse on what’s top of mind for fintech’s leaders. Here are some key takeaways: Optimism in the Air: More than 60% of CEOs reported being bullish or highly bullish on the fintech industry for the second half of 2024. Regulatory Changes on the Horizon: CEOs identified Cryptocurrency, Open Banking, and Buy Now Pay Later as the top three sectors likely to see increased regulation by the end of 2024. CEOs Want Business Development Support: Beyond capital and fundraising, business development support emerged as the top area where CEOs seek investor assistance.For more insights, including comments from my colleagues Ren Riley, Logan Allin, Matthew D. Mann, CFA, and Stephanie Perez, check out the full report here: https://lnkd.in/euHK8-9B

32

1 Comment