WOMEN IN FINTECH together with
#IFGS2015 | 9TH MARCH | GUILDHALL
CELEBRATING THE WOMEN OF OUR SECTOR The benefits of gender diversity in the development of any business are already evidenced and widely championed. Recent research [1] makes it increasingly clear that a company with a more diverse workforce performs better financially, and creates a better environment for employees to thrive. As the voice of the fintech sector in the UK, we regularly hear from our members about the need to do more to encourage diversity and help attract the talent to grow their businesses and be relevant to all consumers. We are making significant progress in creating the business conditions we need to encourage diversity. Let’s continue on this journey of equality together and do more to support our women. Let’s build a sector that’s a true reflection of our society, a sector that is the envy of the world. [1]
Source: Why diversity matters, McKinsey (Article) January 2015, Vivian
Hunt, Dennis Layton and Sara Prince
LEAD AND FOUNDING SPONSORS
CONTENTS 4
TACKLING THE GENDER DIVIDE
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SUPPORTING FINTECH’S FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR
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WOMEN IN FINTECH REPORT
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WHY GENDER DIVERSITY IN FINTECH MAKES COMMERCIAL SENSE
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VOICES OF WOMEN IN FINTECH
TACKLING THE GENDER DIVIDE “One of the greatest challenges to overcome in the finance industry is the lack of diversity in leadership roles. If we are to thrive and become a world-class sector that is the envy of the world we must include both men and women in the decision making process.”
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s the UK fintech sector continues to thrive, our talent pool begins to bow under its weight. Last year we saw a huge shortage of skills within the sector, and so far nothing’s changed. While many argue that it’s easier to find talent in Britain than in Silicon Valley, competition is fierce for the limited number of candidates with the right mix of skills. The success of our fintech sector depends on attracting and retaining a diverse talent base. If we keep hailing the UK as the epicentre of innovation, it’s vital that we develop a strong support network to deliver our promise of continued economic growth. Achieving our goal requires healthy business decision-making and strategic decisions that are designed to support quality talent that is rich in experience.
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Talent should also come in all shapes and sizes. We want people from different backgrounds and genders to reform the financial services sector. Positive diversity campaigns are beginning to make an impact and companies are starting to take notice of its importance. However, we still have a long way
to go. We need to address this issue so that we can get the talent we need to sustain the growth of the UK fintech sector, but also to continue to accelerate our progression in the global marketplace.
We want people from different backgrounds and genders to reform the financial services. Let’s be aware of our social and historical biases. We need to take every action now to promote an opportunity to support a future where technology, banking and innovation proclaim diversification. We cannot lead a movement in the UK for innovative technology without diversity flowing from the bottom to the top of each organisation. From startups to global banks and large technology firms, every player in the fintech industry must address the serious diversity problem and take collective action to shape a world with greater equality and prospects. Claire Cockerton | Founding CEO | Innovate Finance
SUPPORTING FINTECH’S FEMALE ENTREPRENEUR Not only does this help in their efforts to raise funds, grow their business and create jobs, but the networking that accompanies this allows these female entrepreneurs to find out more about the challenges and opportunities that their peers are facing. The fintech industry, while it has rapidly grown since 2008 with 44,000 people employed in the UK, is still a close-knit community. It is great to see so many trailblazing female business leaders in this supplement, and I want to congratulate them and reiterate the point that the City will continue to champion their entrepreneurial efforts. Mark Boleat | Chairman of City of London Policy and Resource Committee
The fintech industry, like all areas of modern day business, needs to make sure it is using the widest talent pool available to it. However, a Government-commissioned report by Lorely Burt MP in February this year said that more needs to be done to better support female entrepreneurs.
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wo points strike me as particularly hard-hitting about the report. Firstly, women majority-own only one in five businesses. Secondly they are a third less likely than men to start a business - despite women controlling half the net worth in the UK. The City of London Corporation, through our Entrepreneur Academe, is fully behind any measures that help support female-led businesses, especially startups. This initiative, delivered by Angel Academe and with our funding, helps connect female entrepreneurs to the mentors and angel investors that need to get their businesses growing.
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WOMEN IN FINTECH REPORT The fintech industry is recognised as cutting-edge and visionary and as such, it should exemplify diversity in the workplace.
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ddressing the gender gap continues to be a challenge across many sectors, not least technology, so Innovate Finance’s Women in fintech initiative marks an important step in setting an example for the future. At Canary Wharf Group we champion diversity in the workforce and strive to provide a platform where the talent and attributes of gifted individuals are recognised beyond face value. Similarly, industry bodies such as Innovate Finance play a pivotal role in supporting diversity across their industry and applying gentle pressure where required to stimulate a change in attitude and perception. In its short life, Innovate Finance has already made positive impacts to the finance and fintech scenes, taking some big steps in its mission to rebalance the financial services sector and promote diversity, resilience and competitiveness. Although progress has been achieved, both at Canary Wharf Group and further afield, we should not be complacent. In this fast-paced environment there is still ground to cover if we are to craft an industry where all employees enjoy equality of opportunity.
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I am delighted to see such high quality in the candidates of the report and to see that a spotlight has been shone on the achievements of the women listed in this supplement. This document is not only a recognition of the great accomplishments of these individuals, but hopefully an inspiration for future generations who are looking to the technology sector for employment. May this report act as a
guiding light for young women considering a future in the fintech industry. Canary Wharf is recognised around the world as an innovative place of business and it is crucial that this future-forward attitude is reflected in our own workforce and within the burgeoning group of innovative companies we support through our tech focused initiatives like Level39. Through this commitment we also back initiatives such as Code Club, a volunteer-led after-school coding club for children aged 9-11. This successful programme is an inclusive initiative that provides coding knowledge to the next generation and we have been thrilled to host four training sessions for volunteers at Level39 at One Canada Square. Diversity continues to be a challenge in the fintech industry but with the support of crucial platforms such as Innovate Finance we are seeing positive change across the board, as demonstrated by the successes reflected in this report. We must work together to create a clear long-term vision for fintech, a sector very close to Canary Wharf Group’s heart, and I look forward to welcoming the future generation of fintech women to the Canary Wharf estate. Sir George Iacobescu | Chairman and Chief Executive Officer | Canary Wharf Group
WHY GENDER DIVERSITY IN FINTECH MAKES COMMERCIAL SENSE Gender diversity in the workplace is often positioned as a social issue but there is a growing awareness about the commercial imperative to address this issue.
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alent shortages in buoyant sectors like fintech demand a rich and diverse workforce to support the pace of growth. Moreover, for all businesses, women make up a vast proportion of the consumer base. Diversity in leadership can only be healthy and injects varied perspectives into all aspects of commercial activity from product to tone of voice. The correlation between diversity in the workplace and commercial performance is increasingly evident and a major subject of discussion amongst our client base. This is particularly true in the technology sector, which has consistently struggled to attract women. There are systemic issues that are critical to address to shift the dial significantly. “Positive action” will help but we need to support and re-educate hiring managers to think differently about the workplace and talent therein. Attracting more women to technology and finance starts in the education system.
Encouraging women into science, and helping schools and universities to reject gender stereotypes and encourage more diverse educational choices is essential to the creation of a graduate pool with the requisite skills to enter key parts of the economy. We also need to support women more effectively in the workplace, enabling them to sustain family and professional lives more effectively, not only through flexible working and childcare provisions but through a reboot of “face time” and “always available” expectations. “Leaning In” engenders a great philosophy, but we need to do more to support the executives of the future at critical points in their career journey. The growth of an exciting sector like fintech provides a compelling opportunity. As our fintech innovators are promoting greater transparency, access and fairness within financial services, this inclusive tone is a huge opportunity to engage new customers and employees alike. Everything has changed and for diversity in the workplace, this can only be a good thing. We should all be encouraged by the fantastic list of senior women in fintech who feature in Innovate Finance’s women in fintech supplement. All of them are inspiring examples of what can be achieved and continue to light the path for young women following in their tracks. Attracting more women to this dynamic and hugely important sector in the UK should be an ambition for everyone within it. Maria Josife | Senior Partner | Erevena
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VOICES OF WOMEN IN FINTECH T
oday at our inaugural Innovate Finance Global Summit we celebrate the contribution of the women who are helping to shape and drive the global fintech sector in Britain. Over 100 women from diverse backgrounds and experience have made this list of key influencers. Some are already well known amongst their peers, while others are the unsung heroes who make things happen behind the scenes. Collectively they have broken down barriers and made substantial contributions to the future sustainability of the financial services industry.
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here’s no doubt about it, gender diversity is just good business sense. But we need diversity throughout the entrepreneurial ecosystem: in our startups and SMEs, in corporations and, crucially, in the investment community that supports them. I set up Angel Academe in 2013 to activate more women as angel investors. Despite controlling half of the net wealth in the UK, women are only 14% of angels. We believe this makes it far harder for women-led technology and fintech businesses to “go big” with their ventures and that senior professional and entrepreneurial women are missing out on the benefits investing and advising can bring. Sarah Turner | Founder | Angel Academe
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tereotypes change with every generation; each new cycle redefining what is “normal”. We adapt to keep up. However, a special few will not only adapt but also innovate, challenging those assumptions that make us intellectually lazy. It’s never easy to be the person cutting a path for others; even less so when you are in a minority as women still are in finance and technology. But as those two worlds collide, so a group of dynamic women have taken up the challenge. They are the very antidote to “group think” and critical to a healthy fintech ecosystem. Julie Chappell | Partner | Hawthorn London
@ADIZAH_TEJANI
ADIZAH TEJANI
LEVEL39
HEAD OF ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
Adizah Tejani is Head of Ecosystem Development at Level39. She has been in the startup ecosystem for the last five years and understands how to create an environment for startups to grow. At Level39, her work ranges from building and connecting the community of 160 startups, to establishing key strategic partnerships with organisations that understand the Level39 ethos. Partnerships over the last two years include World Economic Forum, Paypal, Swift and many more. Adizah’s contribution to fintech in the UK is as part of the founding team of Level39, the first fintech Accelerator in Europe.
@LENDINVEST
AFRA KHAN
LENDINVEST
HEAD OF NEW DATA SCIENCE
Afra Khan is Head of New Data Science at LendInvest. She started out in fintech with Zopa the world’s first peer-to-peer lender where she was in more of a ‘puzzle solving’ role, figuring out how the whole lending and borrowing diversification thing would actually work so lenders got the returns promised to them. The number crunching soon turned into data science and Afra moved into building predictive models that used data to better determine which lenders were safe to lend to, and at what cost.
@JUSTMELEESH
ALYSIA WONCZYK
SEEDRS LTD
MARKETING DIRECTOR
Alysia Wonczyk is Marketing Director at Seedrs, Europe’s most-active online platform for investing. Alysia is a dynamic marketeer with a background in relationship and content marketing, for startup businesses and SMEs. Since 2012, Alysia has led brand engagement, digital marketing, and content strategy for Seedrs in the UK and Europe. She is passionate about using equity crowdfunding as a strategic marketing tool as much as an efficient fundraising mechanism, and she works closely with campaigners to help them devise strategies for community engagement, customer acquisition, and ultimately crowdfunding success. 9
@NOWAFFLE
AMANDA BOYLE
BLOOM
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Amanda is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Bloom, the first UK crowdfunding platform, with the aim of revolutionising access to finance for growing businesses, community projects and social enterprises. In 1997, she was Co-Founder of Caledonia Contracts, a leading UK fit-out contractor with multi-million pound revenues, which she successfully exited in 2007. In addition to advisory or non-executive appointments with ambitious business owners, Amanda mentors graduates through the 50ft Women programme. In 2014, she launched ‘Lean In’, in the UK.
@MISSAMINAY
AMINA AHMAD
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
SENIOR POLICY STRATEGIST AND PARTNERSHIPS
Amina Ahmad is Senior Policy Strategist at Lloyds Banking Group. She has experience in digital innovation, fintech, CSR, retail banking and startups. Amina has worked for major financial services transformations, building and leading cross-functional teams and programmes that deliver customer-driven strategy and complex organisational change. Currently in the Digital Innovation Lab, Amina is building new partnerships to enhance the bank’s fintech profile, and most recently has written and implemented the Digital Education Programme strategy for circa 90 thousand employees.
@ANTHEMIS
AMY NAUIOKAS
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ANTHEMIS GROUP FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT
Amy Nauiokas is Founder and President of Anthemis Group, a leading digital financial services investment and advisory firm focused on re-inventing financial services. Amy’s early investments include LSE-listed Zoopla, Climate Corporation (acquired by Monsanto) and Simple Bank (acquired by BBVA). She is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Archer Gray, a media production, financing and venture investment company. Prior to founding Anthemis and Archer Gray, Amy was an executive at Barclays, , and more recently, Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Stockbrokers. Prior to Barclays, Amy was Senior Managing Director and Partner at Cantor Fitzgerald.
@BANCOSANTANDER
ANA PATRICIA BOTÍN
SANTANDER
EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN
Ana Patricia Botín is Executive Chairman of Santander Group. Prior to that she was the Chief Executive Officer at Santander UK. Ana has a long track record in the financial industry. After seven years at J.P. Morgan she joined Santander UK in 1988 and has actively participated in the Group’s international expansion, in particular Latin America, Corporate Banking, Asset Management and Treasury areas. She recently launched the Fintech Fund, a London-based fintech venture capital fund, initially focusing on startups involved in e-commerce and payments, online lending and investing, and big data analytics.
@ANDRASONEA
ANDRA SONEA
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
LEAD SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT, INNOVATION LAB
Andra Sonea is Lead Solutions Architect for Innovation Lab at Lloyds Banking Group. Previously, Andra worked in international technology consulting for IBM, SAP, EY and Deutsche Bank. She was also CoFounder of the IBM FS Business Innovation Lab, which focused on technology evaluation, rapid prototyping and innovation adoption at scale.
@HMTREASURY
ANDREA LEADSOM
MINISTER
ECONOMIC SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY
Andrea Leadsom is Economic Secretary to the Treasury. Her responsibilities include financial services policy and overall strategic relationship with the UK financial services sector. Andrea began a career in the banking and finance industry. She spent 10 years at BZW and Barclays where she worked in swaps and treasury, project finance, structured projects and then moved to Barclays Head Office to become Financial Institutions Director.
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@EY_GROWTH
ANGELINA KOUZNETSOVA
EY GROWTH
DIRECTOR, TRANSACTION ADVISORY SERVICE
Angelina Kouznetsova is Director of the Transaction Advisory Service, focusing on fintech companies. Over the past four years, Angelina has helped fintech businesses across all stages of development – ranging from early stages fundraising for startups and founder exits to advising large corporates and investors who are looking to invest in fintech in the UK and cross border regions. She has advised on nine deals in the last two years and has been involved with advising the UK Trade and Investment on landscaping the UK fintech industry.
@MMARJALA
ANNIE LAMONT
OAK VENTURES MANAGING PARTNER
Annie Lamont is Managing Partner at Investment Partners, as well as Oak HC/FT. Annie is the number one fintech and healthcare investor on the Forbes Midas List. She serves on the Boards of HCA Holdings, Acculynk, Benefitfocus, Castlight Health, Independent Living Systems, to name but a few. Prior investments include Argus Information & Advisory Services (acquired by Verisk Analytics), Harbor Payments (acquired by American Express), PayFlex Systems (acquired by Aetna), and Point Carbon (acquired by Thomson Reuters). Annie is a member of The Advisory Council for the Financial Solutions Lab (CFSI and JP Morgan Chase).
@ANNAIRRERA
ANNA IRRERA
FINANCIAL NEWS REPORTER
Anna Irrera is a journalist at Financial News, a London-based publication of The Wall Street Journal, where she writes about financial technology and market structure. Over the past two years, Anna has been a driving force behind the coverage of financial news belonging to the UK’s growing fintech sector, having spearheaded the launch of the paper’s dedicated fintech publication Fintech News. Anna joined Financial News in 2012 from Thomson Reuters in Rio de Janeiro, where she was a trainee at the English language newswire service. 12
@MASTERCARDUKBIZ
ANOUSKA LADDS
MASTERCARD
HEAD OF EMERGING PAYMENTS DISTRIBUTION
Anouska Ladds is Head of Emerging Payments Distribution at MasterCard. Anouska leads MasterCard’s digital wallet distribution across all industries within the UK and Ireland. With over 10 years global experience in fintech, Anouska has played a key role in driving change across many verticals including transit, airlines and hotels. With a passion to drive enhanced consumer experiences, Anouska believes new and innovative technologies are key to continually maintain relevance in a consistently evolving payments landscape.
@BAILEYTALKS
BAILEY KURSAR
MARKETINVOICE
PRODUCT MARKETING MANAGER
Bailey Kursar is Product Marketing Manager at MarketInvoice. Six months into this role, she’d tackled a complete rebrand, helping to realign the company with its mission - to bring transparency to an otherwise opaque invoice finance industry. Bailey has seen MarketInvoice go from a cosy 16-person team, to a business of over 50, and growing. Previously, Bailey was at fintech startup Funding Options, an online platform for businesses looking for loans.
@BPOZDOROVKINA
BARBARA POZDOROVKINA
LMAX EXCHANGE
HEAD OF CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT
Barbara Pozdorovkina is Head of Corporate Development at LMAX Exchange. Over the past three years, Barbara and her team helped build LMAX Exchange into the UK’s fastest growing technology firm (2014 Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table) with clients in over 80 countries. As the world’s only regulated MTF for FX, LMAX Exchange has transformed the industry by introducing the exchange style trading, which is fast becoming the benchmark for FX trading globally. Barbara’s career spans over 17 years with focus on corporate strategy, business transformation and capital markets in financial services. 13
@BINDIK
BINDI KARIA
SILICON VALLEY BANK VICE PRESIDENT
Bindi Karia is Vice President of Silicon Valley Bank. Over the years she has worked with and mentored a number of fintech startups in the UK, both whilst at Silicon Valley Bank and previously as a Lead in the Microsoft Startup Team. In the past, Bindi worked in fintech in a startup (Trayport) and also in the Microsoft fintech team. Prior to that, Bindi worked for PwC in the Financial Services Strategy team.
@BRIGIDWHORISKEY
BRIGID WHORISKEY
ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND HEAD OF SCOUTING AND RESEARCH
Brigid Whoriskey is Head of Scouting and Research at RBS. She is responsible for tracking disruptive trends, emerging technologies and industry best practice to determine opportunities and risks for banking. She oversees global scouting to identify innovative ideas and solutions that deliver a better banking experience for customers. Collaborating with external partners and the fintech start-up community is a fundamental part of her work. .
@CAROLINEHYDETV
CAROLINE HYDE
BLOOMBERG TV
FINTECH CORRESPONDENT
Caroline Hyde is a presenter for Bloomberg TV, with a particular focus on technology. Caroline regularly interviews business executives, politicians and analysts across the region - including technology leaders, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Whatsapp CEO Jan Koum, ARM Holding’s Simon Segars and Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe. She has taken particular interest in the growth of fintech in London and reports from key events, moderates panel discussions and breaks news on the latest trends. From the latest startups to the oldest financial institutions, Caroline has helped shine a light on what’s being created in this burgeoning industry. 14
@MIICARD
CASSIE ANDERSON
MIICARD
MARKETING VICE PRESIDENT
Cassie Anderson is Marketing Vice President at miiCard, the only consumer-centric global identity service, creating trust in the digital economy by proving ‘you are who you say you are’ purely online. Leveraging the trust in consumers’ relationships with their banks to prove real identities to passport check level, online and in minutes, miiCard is directly addressing the identity fraud which costs the UK £25 billion each year. A tech marketer with strong communications skills, Cassie is the driving force behind the miiCard brand, a recognised leader in fintech innovation, and technology partner in an identity project for the US government.
@WORLDREMIT
CATHERINE WINES
WORLD REMIT
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Catherine Wines is Chief Operating Officer at WorldRemit. Catherine oversees the day-to-day running of the company, including customer service, partner integrations and the launch of new send and receive options. As a qualified accountant, Catherine has extensive commercial experience in the money transfer industry and was one of WorldRemit founding members. Previously, Catherine was Operations and Regional Director for the UK, Ireland and Benelux at Travelex Money Transfer, which was subsequently bought by Coinstar. Catherine has served on the board of the Universe Group, a publicly listed company where she was also Managing Director of the currency division @LYALLY
CATHRYN LYALL
MINNAMURRA CONSULTING LTD FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR
Cathryn Lyall is Founder and Director of Minnamurra Consulting, a bespoke financial markets consultancy specialising in strategic advisory services for listed and OTC derivatives, clearing and settlement, markets infrastructure, regulation and new exchange development across all asset classes. She is also an Independent Non-Executive Director at Deutsche Bank UK Ltd. Cathryn started as a trader at the Sydney Futures Exchange and has remained at the forefront of the technology revolution in derivatives markets. At ADX she was involved in developing the first startup purely electronic market globally at the time and has continued to assist financial services companies build new and innovative platforms and models.
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@LEETCHIDE
CELINE LAZORTHES
LEETCHI.COM
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
CĂŠline Lazorthes is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Leetchi.com, the leading online money collection website with more than three million clients in over 150 countries and a team of 30 employees. The Leetchi group also runs a payment API, Mangopay, dedicated to players in the sharing economy such as marketplaces and crowdfunding platforms, and Leetchi Cash, a tool for sending money by email.
@ONTREES
CHARLOTTE OATES
ONTREES
MARKETING LEAD
Charlotte Oates is part of the founding team at OnTrees, an award-winning PFM solution which allows people to see all of their financial accounts in one place. She believes strongly in the opportunity for fintech to empower UK customers to improve their financial health and have more positive relationships with their money. Charlotte has seen OnTrees through from launch in 2012 to its acquisition by the MoneySuperMarket.com Group last year. She is now responsible for the development and marketing of mobile propositions across MoneySuperMarket portfolio brands.
@MPESAVODA
CLAIRE ALEXANDRE
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M-PESA AT VODAFONE
HEAD OF COMMERCIAL AND STRATEGY
Claire Alexandre heads the M-Pesa Commercial and Strategy team within Vodafone, leading the further growth of the payment and money transfer service. She works alongside operational teams spanning from Africa to Asia, and regularly explores commercial opportunities with fintech companies based in or visiting London, to foster wider access to financial services. She supported the development of M-Pesa early on, while in charge of Vodafone financial services regulation and policy. More recently, Claire was a Senior Program Officer for Financial Services for the Poor, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, leading their policy and regulatory strategy and programmes
@CCALMEJA
CLAIRE CALMEJANE
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION
Claire Calmejane is Director of Innovation at Lloyds Banking Group. Prior to joining the Group, Claire spent seven years consulting in Paris, Boston and London, building robust organisational and analytical skills, and leading phase one of a research programme around digital transformation at MIT. She is an advisory board member at Startupbootcamp and is currently one of the ambassadors responsible for promoting women in technology at her engineering school (EPITA).
@CLAIRECOCKERTON
CLAIRE COCKERTON
INNOVATE FINANCE
FOUNDING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Claire Cockerton is Founding Chief Executive Officer of Innovate Finance, a City of London and Canary Wharf Group backed movement. Claire is also the Founder and Chairwoman of Entiq, a firm delivering innovation strategy and product development programmes for large corporates. Claire set the strategy and co-led the implementation of Level39, Europe’s largest Technology Accelerator dedicated to fintech, retail and smart cities technologies. She continues as Special Advisor to the Canary Wharf Group on the development of a Financial Services and Smart Cities tech cluster. Claire is an active member for Women in Tech, Tech London Advocates, Women Shift Digital, and Boris Johnson’s London Tech Ambassador Group. @CFLYNNLEVY
CLARE FLYNN LEVY
ESSENTIA ANALYTICS
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Clare Flynn Levy is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Essentia Analytics. Prior to founding Essentia, Clare spent 10 years as a fund manager, both active equity (managing over $1billion of pension funds for Deutsche Asset Management) and hedge (as Founder and CIO of Avocet Capital Management, a specialist tech fund manager). She also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Team Grasshopper Ltd. (an innovative packaging IP company), acts as an Advisor to the Board of City Lounge Ventures Ltd. (operators of the Central Working flexible workhubs), and sits on the European Regional Board of YPO-WPO (the world’s most influential network of young CEOs).
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@RUBICONFINANCE
CONNY DORRESTIJN
CLEAR2PAY
HEAD OF CORPORATE MARKETING
Conny Dorrestijn is Head of Corporate Marketing at Clear2Pay. Conny joinedin 2002, from its inception. During her 14 years as VP of Marketing and Analyst Relations, the company grew into a 1.2 thousand people payments modernisation company, with global recognition. She is also a Member of the FinTech50 2014 and 2015 Panel. Conny advises startups and second stage companies (Synerscope, Five Degrees and Roundcube) in UK entry campaigns. In November 2014 Clear2Pay was sold to FIS, where she continues her role in payments innovation.
@DALEJMURRAY
DALE MURRAY
SUSSEX PLACE VENTURES CO-FOUNDER
Dale Murray is Co-Founder of mobile fintech pioneer Omega Logic, a solution provider to the mobile phone networks for prepay top-up transactions. Dale built her company to annual transactions of £450 million within five years, generating net revenue of £25 million. She sold her company in 2005, was named British Angel Investor of the Year in 2011, and is now an NED at BIS, UKTI and Sussex Place Ventures. She was awarded a CBE in 2013 for services to business, and a Fellowship from ICAANZ in 2014. In 2015 she was named by Debretts as one of the 500 most influential people in Britain.
@CAMEOWORKS
DEANNA OPPENHEIMER
CAMEOWORKS FOUNDER
Deanna Oppenheimer is Founder of CameoWorks, LLC, a global retail and financial services advisory firm. Her non-executive director roles include NCR Corporation, U.K.’s Tesco PLC and Tesco Bank and AXA global insurance. In addition, the firm advises Bain & Company, Brooks Sports, Anthemis, E*TRADE, Remitly, VoloMetrix, Finsphere, Lithium and several other technology companies. From 2005 to 2011, Deanna worked at Barclays PLC, where she transformed the Global Retail and Business Banking divisions.
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@DORAAZIMO
DORA ZIAMBRA
AZIMO
HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Dora Ziambra is Head of Business Development at Azimo. Dora’s career has spanned multiple continents - from starting as a derivatives trader in Chicago, building her own options trading business in Germany, working in international banking in London and Frankfurt, and joining a startup advisory in Africa. She has worked for the ECB, Deutsche Börse and Paypal among others. Dora is passionate about women in tech.
@PROPHISTECH
DOROTHEE FUHRMANN
PROPHIS TECHNOLOGIES CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Dorothee Fuhrmann is Chief Operating Officer at Prophis Technologies, which enables firms to derive greater value and insights from their highly connected data. Dorothee held senior positions at banks and asset management firms including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and PIMCO, covering fixed income, derivatives and risk advisory. Drawing from firsthand experience, Dorothee spearheaded the development of Prophis’ product suite for the investment management industry, including a solution for client-facing personnel, which won the 2014 Dassault 3D FinTech Challenge.
@DUENABLOMSTROM
DUENA BLOSTROM
MENIGA
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
Duena Blomstrom is Chief Marketing Officer at Meniga. Duena brings over 15 years of experience and an impressive track record of excellence in sales, marketing and branding across industries such as banking and telecoms. She has been instrumental in building Meniga’s success as Europe’s leading PFM provider. In the past five years Duena has become a strong voice in the fintech space. Before joining Meniga, she worked for WSI Sweden where she built a successful sales organisation from scratch and increased sales over 900% during her tenure. Duena also established and led Lux Mentis. 19
@SBOOTCAMP
EDWINA JOHNSON
STARTUPBOOTCAMP FINTECH CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Edwina Johnson is Chief Operating Officer at Startupbootcamp, a fintech accelerator. Edwina works alongside a fantastic team to find the best fintech startups across the globe, bringing them to London where she aims to significantly accelerate their growth. Beyond the accelerator, Edwina helps to run other events through the Startupbootcamp fintech brand, such as ‘FinTechathons’. She is also an active member in the wider fintech community.
@EILEENTSO
EILEEN BURBRIDGE
PASSION CAPITAL PARTNER
Eileen Burbidge is a Partner at Passion Capital, the leading early-stage technology venture capital investment firm in EU. Eileen brings extensive operational experience to her investment activities gleaned from Yahoo!, Skype, Apple and elsewhere. She was ranked #18 in the WIRED100 (2012 & 2013); Eileen is one of London’s 1,000 Most Influential People according to the Evening Standard (2014); and was named one of the 12 Most Influential People in Tech according to the Telegraph (2014). On behalf of Passion, Eileen serves as board director for DueDil, Digital Shadows, Lulu, wireWAX, and other portfolio companies, of which more than 20% are in fintech. @E_OSTANKOVA
EKATERINA OSTANKOVA
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP INNOVATION PRODUCT OWNER
Ekaterina Ostankova is Innovation Product Owner at Lloyds Banking Group. She initially joined Lloyds Bank in the digital strategy team where she was responsible for developing digital customer propositions. She subsequently led a workstream on a signature site re-design project. Ekaterina was recognised for her innovation and was selected to take part in a Pop Up Lab to explore the latest fintech trends. Since returning she has taken up responsibility for fintech collaboration, which aims to foster innovation by better connecting LBG Digital with the fintech ecosystem. 20
ELIZABETH BUSE
MONITISE
CO-CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Elizabeth Buse is Co-Chief Executive Officer at Monitise. Elizabeth is responsible for the company’s operations, including sales, marketing, product, technology, finance and administrative functions. The Monitise technology platform is used by leading banks, payment companies, retailers and mobile networks, to securely connect people with their money. Prior to Monitise, Elizabeth spent 16 years at Visa Inc., most recently as Global Executive, Solutions, responsible for merchant relationships, ecommerce, mobile and processing products. Elizabeth also serves as a Director of Travelport, a leading travel commerce platform listed on the NYSE.
@EKANTER
ELIZABETH KANTER
SAP
DIRECTOR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND PUBLIC POLICY
Elizabeth Kanter is Director of Government Relations and Public Policy for SAP UK. Eliazabeth’s work involves lobbying governments on critical tech issues as well as promoting SAPs StartUp Focus Programme and its commitment to the fintech sector. While SAP is the force behind dozens of fintech startups and established banks, it is supporting future innovation via its FinTech Innovation Lab. She is deeply committed to challenging the British government to remove artificial barriers standing in the way of growing the UK’s already robust startup community. Prior to SAP, Elizabeth worked at BlackBerry, Yahoo and Nortel, in government relations roles. @LIZLUM
ELIZABETH LUMLEY
FINEXTRA EDITOR
Elizabeth Lumley is editor at FinExtra. Elizabeth is a global specialist commentator on services, regulations, risk, data and technology in the investment, retail, and global transactional banking sectors, as well as the burgeoning fintech space. She is an internationally recognised reporter, tweeter, blogger, conference speaker and broadcast journalist. She is currently an editor at financial services newswire Finextra. She is also the host of the Women in FinTech series on Brett King’s radio show Breaking Banks, and author of ‘Smarter Banking: European Edition’ with Aite Group senior analyst Ron Shevlin which will be out in the spring 2015.
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@CREDITBENCHMARK
ELLY HARDWICK
CREDIT BENCHMARK CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Elly Hardwick is Chief Executive Officer at Credit Benchmark. Elly has built the company from concept to its current position as a noted force for transparency in the critical area of financial risk. The company has received wide recognition, including most recently the Fintech 50. Elly is a 15 year veteran at the intersection of financial services and technology, with previous experience including roles with Thomson Reuters, Morgan Stanley and the UK Department of Trade and Industry.
@DIGITALSHADOWS
EMILY BIGGS
DIGITAL SHADOWS CHIEF ENGINEER
Emily Biggs is Chief Engineer at Digital Shadows. She has played a key role in defining, designing and implementing Digital Shadows’ innovative cyber situational awareness service that protects organisations from data loss and targeted cyber attack. She now heads up the Digital Shadows engineering team, using cutting edge technology to develop a product that delivers “beyond the boundary” security to financial institutions around the world.
@EMILYMACKAY1
EMILY MACKAY
CROWDSURFER
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Emily Mackay is Chief Executive Officer at Crowdsurfer, the world’s data authority for crowd finance. Crowdsurfer is bringing big data engineering to crowd/peer finance to create a powerful data service, and has already unified over 250 million data points from hundreds of platforms worldwide. Emily was named one of the Top 100 people shaping digital business by TechCityInsider in 2013, and is a CEDAR Enterprise Fellow. She exited Microgenius in 2013, the UK’s first community shares platform.
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@SPCAPITALIQ
FABIENNE GIMENEZ
S&P CAPITAL IQ
STRATEGY AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Fabienne Gimenez is Managing Director at S&P Capital IQ. Fabienne’s role is to lead the formulation of business strategies that help the business achieve its long-term objectives for growth and global expansion. In addition, Fabienne heads business development efforts for external alliances and acquisitions. Fabienne has a broad and successful background in the global financial services arena, having spent the last 17 years working across North America and EMEA for various financial institutions and fintech companies.
@FIONABROWNSELL1
FIONA BROWNSELL
TUSMOR
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Fiona Brownsell is Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Tusmor, which fast tracks banking startups through the regulatory process, providing expert support and best of breed technology. Having delivered two startup retail banks and a credit union, Tusmor has strong partnerships with complementary and likeminded organisations motivated to re-invent the customer proposition bringing innovation and competition to the market. Fiona identifies and promotes thought-through solutions to barriers to entry and growth by levelling the playing field.
@ISEEDCO
GABRIELLE PATRICK
EPIPHYTE CORPORATION CO-FOUNDER AND GENERAL COUNSEL
Gabrielle Patrick is Co-Founder and General Counsel at Epiphyte CorporationEpiphyte provides a middleware software solution that enables banks and systems to interface with crypto-financial networks in a controlled, secure manner, with built in regulatory compliance and security. Gabrielle is also the chair of the International Bar Association’s committee that deals with virtual currencies and related legal issues. She is helping to drive forward regulatory dimensions in this space by engaging with regulators worldwide.
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Gender diversity is just good business sense 24
Sarah Turner | Founder | Angel Academe
Stereotypes change with every generation Julie Chappell | Partner | Hawthorn
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GAIL HODGES
HSBC HOLDINGS
SVP AND HEAD OF GLOBAL DIGITAL PAYMENTS
Gail Hodges is Head of Global Digital Payments at HSBC. Gail’s mission is to engage customers with simple and secure payments and loyalty. Gail leads end-to-end aspects of HSBC’s Digital Payments programme from global strategy and partnerships to delivery and optimisation. More widely, she is jointly responsible for HSBC’s cross-business line payment strategy, and contributes to domestic and inter-bank efforts to maintain the integrity and interoperability of payment systems in the UK and beyond.
@GEORGIAHANIAS
GEORGIA HANIAS
INNOVATE FINANCE
HEAD OF PR AND COMMUNICATIONS
Georgia Hanias is Head of PR and Communications at Innovate Finance. Previously Georgia was a director within Citigate Dewe Rogerson’s corporate practice in London, and headed up the PR agency’s startup division. Before her foray into agency life Georgia ran her own media consultancy for 10 years. She has extensive multi-national experience in both traditional and digital PR campaigns. She began her PR career as project manager with Nortel Networks, and as PR manager for various B2B IT companies. Georgia is also an experienced features writer for news outlets such as ITN, Marie Claire, Libertine magazine and the New Internationalist. @THEPSR
HANNAH NIXON
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PAYMENT SYSTEMS REGULATOR MANAGING DIRECTOR
Hannah Nixon is Managing Director of the Payment Systems Regulator. Hannah is responsible for leading the new regulator as it takes responsibility for the £75 trillion UK payment systems industry. She joined the PSR from Ofgem, the gas and electricity industry regulator, where she led on the development and implementation of a new regulatory framework. Before that, she was Head of Regulatory Economics at the Office of Rail Regulation, a founding member of Cambridge Economic Policy Associates and Vice President of Deutsche Bank’s global markets economics team. Hannah is a non-executive director of the Channel Islands Competition and Regulatory Authority.
HELEN MITCHELL
BLUKUDU
FOUNDER
Helen Mitchell is Founder at Blukudu. Helen is responsible for creating business development opportunities for the financial service sector, through engagement with fintech. Previously she was the Global Head of Marketing and Digital Distribution at Barclays, Director EMEA eCommerce and Business Intelligence at Fidelity, and Vice President of Deutsche Bank European Equity and Structured Products eCommerce. A committed mentor and advisor to the fintech sector, Helen is also a member of Level39, and a Tech London Advocate.
@SPCAPITALIQ
IMOGEN DILLON HATCHER
S&P CAPITAL IQ PRESIDENT
Imogen Dillon Hatcher is President of S&P Capital IQ, a leading provider of multi-asset class and real time data, research and analytics to institutional investors, investment and commercial banks, investment advisors, corporations and universities around the world. Imogen initially joined the company in 2014 as Chief Commercial Officer, and was responsible for leading S&P Capital IQ’s global sales, client services, marketing and research network activities.
@ITXASOLONDON
ITXASO DEL PALACIO
LEPE PARTNERS INVESTMENT DIRECTOR
Itxaso del Palacio is Investment Director at Lepe Partners. Itxaso is responsible for building the portfolio of Lepe Capital, an active growth stage investment firm. Before Lepe, Itxaso worked at early stage investor, EC1 Capital, and was responsible for deal flow across sectors, including fintech. Since 2009, Itxaso taught Entrepreneurial Finance at UCL and Imperial College. During this time, many finance innovators have attended her lectures learning the skills necessary to start a business.
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@OPENFINTECH
JEN COLLET
OPENFIN
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Jen Collet is Chief Operating Officer at OpenFin in Europe. OpenFin runs HTML5 desktop applications outside the web browser. Jen plays an integral role in the growth of the business, bringing 15 years experience in startups and finance. Most recently, she was ICAP’s Global Chief Operating Officer for Post Trade Risk and Information and prior to that Global Business Manager at ICELink.
@JESSINBLUE
JESS WILLIAMSON
BARCLAYS TECHSTARS DIRECTOR
Jess Williamson is Director for Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, investing in and working with startups across the financial services industry. After a strong cohort in 2014, the programme will run in both London and New York throughout 2015, and build further bridges between the two cities. After nine years in the UK, adventures have included two startups in Scotland, Springboard accelerator in Cambridge, Techstars London, and now a dedicated focus on the fintech ecosystem.
@JOYCE
JOYCE KIM
STELLAR.ORG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joyce Kim is Executive Director of Stellar.org, a nonprofit organisation focused on open financial access. Prior to Stellar, Joyce was a VC at Freestyle Capital as well as an entrepreneur. She was also a corporate and M&A attorney and pro-bono at Sanctuary for Families representing immigrant women who were victims of domestic violence and the Innocence Project working on DNA exonerations.
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@JUDECOOK
JUDE COOK
SHAREIN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Jude Cook is Founder and Director at ShareIn. Jude is one of the founding members of the UK Crowdfunding Association. She spent six years at BT, in various strategic planning and corporate finance roles. After a career break she started helping startups with business/strategic planning and financial modelling. This infused her passion for innovative companies and sowed the seed for ShareIn – Scotland’s only directly authorised equity crowdfunding platform.
@PIXELPIN
JUHI GORE
PIXELPIN CO-FOUNDER
Juhi Gore is Co-Founder at PixelPin. Juhi has been the driving force in the product and business development of this award-winning cyber security startup. Fintech organisations, as high profile targets for hackers, are investing ahead of other industries in innovative solutions. Now that the cyber war has gone mobile, PixelPin is working with key players to offer the only truly cross-platform authentication solution which is also proven to increase engagement and security levels whilst protecting customers’ privacy.
@TRILLIONFUND
JULIA GROVES
TRILLION FUND
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Julia Groves is Chief Executive Officer at Trillion Fund, the UK’s largest social crowdfunding platform. Julia founded britishairways.com in 1995, and has since been a Director of a range of early stage businesses that use the internet to engage directly with their end customers. Julia is a member of both the CF50 in the States and Innovate 50 in the UK. She founded the UK Crowdfunding Association in 2012, and has successfully campaigned for proportionate regulation and better tax treatment for crowdfunders, including the new Lending ISA. 29
@STREETSCONSULT
JULIA STREETS
STREETS CONSULTING
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Julia Streets is Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Streets Consulting, a business development, marketing and communications consultancy for financial services, technology and fast-growth companies. Her career includes senior executive roles at Instinet and NYSE Technologies. Julia advises fintech firms and their executives through various stages of corporate growth. Julia is a SWIFT Innotribe judge, Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab mentor and a fintech commentator in her own right. Brummel Magazine named her one of their ‘Inspirational Women on Boards’ and ‘Inspirational Women Entrepreneurs’, and she is currently featured in Microsoft’s global ‘#DoMore’ instagram campaign.
@CROWDBNK
KAREN DUNCAN
CROWDBNK
HEAD OF OPERATIONS
Karen Duncan is Head of Operations at CrowdBnk, a leading UK equity and debt crowdfunding platform raising capital for early-stage tax efficient businesses. Karen is responsible for the design and delivery of all operational functions and processes. Since joining the founding team in 2011, she has played an integral part in building the organisation, with strong project management skills and a pro-active approach to regulation. In 2014 alone, CrowdBnk successfully funded 14 companies and helped to raise over £7 million.
@KARENSEEDRS
KAREN KERRIGAN
SEEDRS LIMITED
LEGAL AND FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
Karen Kerrigan is Legal and Financial Director at Seedrs Limited a leading UK-based equity crowdfunding platform and the first platform to receive regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority in May 2012. Before joining Seedrs, Karen worked at international law firm, Simmons & Simmons LLP, in the Financial Markets Litigation and Regulatory Team, where she acted for a range of financial institutions. Karen is an England and Wales qualified lawyer. She is also a Director of the UK Crowdfunding Association where she leads the Regulatory Working Group. 30
@URICALTD
KATHERINE HERBERT
URICA
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Katherine Herbert is Associate Director for URICA, a firm which completely de-risks transactional processes by allowing companies to access early payments without having to give personal guarantees. URICA is funded by the British Business Bank and institutional investors.
KIRSTEN ENGLISH
.CONSULTANT
NON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CONSULTANT
Kirsten English is Non-Executive Director and Consultant at .Consultant. In addition to her non-executive portfolio, Kirsten consults to private equity funds on due diligence and strategic growth for portfolio companies. Her background comprises of 16 years at Reuters, including CEO of their Norwegian Branch, Co-Founder of a financial services start up that sold to BT after four years with $500m in revenues, Entrepreneur in Residence at Warburg Pincus (fintech), CEO of a portfolio of hedge funds and director at Terra Firma. Kirsten is involved in several industry-wide initiatives including fintech accelerator Level 39 and ‘AltExchange Alliance’. @FUNDINGCIRCLE
LAURA MCMULLEN
FUNDING CIRCLE
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Laura McMullen is Business Development Director at Funding Circle. Laura joined when the peer-to-peer sector was still in its infancy. She has been instrumental in growing the introduced channel of business borrowers, and is now responsible for a 10 strong UK wide sales team with clients contributing deal flow of £10 million every month. Previously, Laura worked in the Infrastructure and Private Equity team at Macquarie Capital Partners and has experience working both with European consumer infrastructure assets as well as in Capital raising and investor relations. 31
@BNYMELLON
LEDA GLYPTIS
BNY MELLON
EMEA INNOVATION HEAD
Leda Glyptis is Head of EMEA Innovation at BNY Mellon. Leda manages BNY Mellon’s relationships with the startup ecosystem and is responsible for delivering startup weekends, thought leadership, product and capability enhancement. Prior to that, Leda worked as Head of Services Development for GEL Software, a bespoke financial solutions startup and as Communications and Corporate Affairs manager for a security provider pivoting into a non-weapons defence technology company.
@LREASOR
LILIANA REASOR
NOVUS ORDO CAPITAL LTD. CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Liliana Reasor is Chief Executive Officer at Novus Ordo Capital. Liliana is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist with over 18 years of experience in US Mergers and Acquisitions, US tech equity investment analysis, trading, and European fintech (risk and portfolio analytics). She is also a business coach to fintech startups at FinTech Circle in London.
@LILYLAPENNA
LILY LAPENNA
MYBNK
CO-CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Lily Lapenna is Co-Chief Executive Officer and Founder at MyBnk, a financial and enterprise education charity for young people. Her programmes include prevention and intervention money management workshops, Europe’s first youth-led online and in-school bank and market based enterprise loan challenges. She was appointed a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011, selected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2010, and named Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the New Statesman in 2008.
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@CONTEGO
LISA ADDISON
CONTEGO FRAUD SOLUTIONS HEAD OF SALES
Lisa Addison is Head of Sales at Contego Fraud Solutions. Previously, Lisa participated in the growth and exit of three marketing, strategy and data analytics businesses, largely working in financial services . Her early career was in brand, marketing and trade development at the World Economic Forum, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and global advertising, marketing and digital agencies. Lisa is passionate about improving compliance and anti-fraud decisions in the banking, financial services and alternative finance industries.
@FUNDINGCIRCLE
LISA JACOBS
FUNDING CIRCLE
VICE PRESIDENT STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Lisa Jacobs is Vice President for Strategic Business Development at Funding Circle. Lisa manages strategic business development, business intelligence and corporate development. Since joining in 2012, she has managed two capital raises, an international merger, the development of several new product propositions and a number of business change projects. Prior to this, Lisa worked in the more traditional financial services sector - as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group, she advised global and national retail banks, insurers and asset management companies on strategic and operational change.
@STANTN
LISA STANTON
INAUTH
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Lisa Stanton is Chief Executive Officer at InAuth, a global, high-growth security solution, focused on securing the advancing technologies of mobile, tablet, and browser. InAuth provides leading in-app solutions, which allow for intelligent authentication at device level, to reduce fraud, identify risk, and remove friction. Mobile is the channel of choice and growing in importance as the go-to modality for customer interaction, client services, and account origination. Founded in 2010, InAuth was the chosen solution for five of the largest US and global banks, major remittance providers, and some of the largest digital retailers in the world. Prior to joining InAuth, Lisa was President (and first employee) of Monitise Americas.
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@ABUNDANCEGEN
LOUISE WILSON
ABUNDANCE CO-FOUNDER
Louise Wilson is Co-Founder and Director of Abundance. Abundance is about putting responsibility and personal priorities back into money again, using technology. As the first crowdfunding platform to become regulated in the UK, Abundance provided the template for subsequent authorisations, raising awareness of the model with regulator and policy-makers.
MALI FERNANDO MARAFINI
INTERRRUPTIV.COM
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Mali Fernando Marafini is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Interruptiv.com. Mali is a finalist in the Future CIO of the Year Women in IS Awards, and was nominated for FDM NatWest Everywoman in Technology Awards – Startup of the Year & Innovator of the Year 2015. Mali is also a mentor for Startupbootcamp and LondonTechAdvocates, and is one of few women from a diversity background operating at senior level within the fintech corporate arena.
@MELA_ATANASSOVA
MARIELA ATANASSOVA
GROUP FLOW
INNOVATION FACILITATOR AND OWNER
Mariela Atanassova is Innovation Facilitator and Owner at Group Flow. Mariela specialises in large-group interactions, design thinking and innovation. Her key expertise is in fintech and co-creation, the space where many parties have to work together effectively to resolve complex issues. Mariela works with innovators and thought leaders (Ripple Labs, Anthemis Edge), VCs and startups, helping them re-think the way they work and collaborate. Her contribution to fintech includes Startupbootcamp, facilitating workshops for industry groups, and design and production of leading conferences. 34
@MMEENTREPRENEUR
MARTA KRUPINSKA
AZIMO
GENERAL MANAGER AND CO-FOUNDER
Marta Krupinska is Co-Founder and General Manager at Azimo, a London-based online money transfer platform disrupting the remittance industry and changing the world for the better for migrants. A perpetual expat herself – she’s lived and worked in Krakow, Dublin, New York and London – Marta is no stranger to fast-growth businesses having run her own startup as well as project managed international events. As General Manager, Marta runs daily operations and works closely with the CEO to drive growth.
@MISHARAO
MISHA RAO
INNOVATE FINANCE HEAD OF EVENTS
Misha Rao is Head of Events at Innovate Finance, a global marketing and business development specialist with a focus on the innovation and fintech sector. She began her sector career as a project leader at Unilever where she was responsbile for the delivery of two corporate accelerator programmes for the global Laundry / Dirt Is Good (DiG) brand in London and Sao Paulo. The accelerators were designed to explore disruptive innovations in wearable tech, smart machines and micro-entrepreneurship areas for the UK, Indian and Brazilian markets.
@MONIKAGESTA
MONIKA GESTAUTAITE
TRANSFERGO
FINANCIAL OPERATIONS MANAGER
Monika Gestautaite is Financial Operations Manager at TransferGo, the leading international money transfer service for Central Eastern European migrants. Monika earned an outstanding degree in Economics and Accountancy from Cass Business School and received many awards from various scientific conferences, trading games and research projects. She is one TransferGo’s first employees, and is currently responsible for frictionless money flow, hedging currency risk and making sure that TransferGo delivers payments at almost the speed of light. 35
@NEZAHATGULTEKIN
NEZAHAT GULTEKIN
ATLANTIC BRIDGE VENTURES SENIOR ADVISOR
Nezahat Gultekin is Senior Advisor at Atlantic Bridge Ventures. Nezahat has been instrumental in building the Future Fifty Programme - a Downing Street supported initiative to assist 50 selected growth stage technology companies by delivering bespoke assistance. Nezahat also led Tech City UK’s fintech initiatives and chaired a working group that supported the introduction of new bad debt relief for lending through peer-to-peer platforms. Nezahat has significant technology investment banking and advisory experience and spearheaded Credit Suisse’ software, fintech and Internet investment banking franchise for EMEA. Nezahat was previously at Nomura, Lehman Brothers and Broadview.
@NICOLEANMO
NICOLE ANDERSON
SIMULOCITY
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Nicole Anderson is Chief Executive Officer at Simulocity. Nicole is Co-Founder of Fintech Circle Innovate, and former successful B2B fintech entrepreneur. Nicole is advisor and mentor at Level39, Technology London Advocates Women in Tech and FinTech Workstreams, Canary Wharf’s Smarter City Cognicity Entrepreneur Programme, and founding member of Fintech Circle Angel Network. Nicole was nominated for the South African ‘Top 20 IT Women in Business 2007’ and active contributor to Marie Claire, Stylist Magazine and Cosmopolitan Magazines on the topic of women entering entrepreneurship.
NIKI BEATTIE
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MARKET STRUCTURE PARTNERS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Niki Beattie is Chief Executive Officer at Market Structure Partners. Niki has more than 20 years capital markets experience, particularly focusing on the impact of technology and regulation on capital markets infrastructure. She spent 17 years working in investment banking, mostly at Merrill Lynch International. She started out in trading technology before running Merrill Lynch’s first electronic trading desk and becoming Managing Director and Head of EMEA Market. In 2008 she founded Market Structure Partners, a strategic consulting firm specialising in the structure of capital markets. Niki is also Chairman of Aquis Exchange, and a member of the Boards of Moscow Exchange, Cheuvreux International Limited and IRESS Limited.
@OPHELIA_BROWN
OPHELIA BROWN
INDEX VENTURES PRINCIPAL
Ophelia Brown is a Principal at Index Ventures, a multi-stage venture capital firm with more than 20 investments in financial services in Europe and the US. Ophelia is a Board Observer at Credit Benchmark, Osper and Robinhood and works with Index-backed companies Adyen, Bitpay, Novus and TransferWise. Prior to Index, Ophelia spent three years in the Securities Division at Goldman Sachs in London.
PATRICIA KEMP
OAK INVESTMENT PARTNERS
VENTURE PARTNERS
Patricia Kemp is a Venture Partner at Oak Investment Partners and a General Partner at Oak HC/FT. Patricia serves on the Board of Kuaipay, Duedil and Vesta, and is Board Observer at Acculynk. Her past portfolio activity includes Bonds.com (acquired by MTS Markets International, an entity of the London Stock Exchange), Harbor Payments (acquired by American Express), NetSpend (acquired by TSYS), Point Carbon (acquired by Thomson Reuters), and TxVia (acquired by Google). Prior to joining Oak Investment Partners in 2002, Patricia had 11 years of senior management experience at Cendant (formerly CUC International)
@PEMIRDAG
PINAR EMIRDAG
HUPOMONE
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Pinar Emirdag is Managing Director at Hupomone. Pinar has worked on a spectrum of innovative developments in capital markets and market structures. More recently, Pinar has focused on blockchain and crypto-ledger technologies. She is also a founding member of the UK Digital Currency Association. Since her role at Lava Trading over a decade ago, Pinar has helped to develop an electronic trading landscape, through industry projects such as Turquoise, Boat and a governance role at the FIX Protocol.
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@PRUASHBY
PRU ASHBY
LONDON & PARTNERS HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY
London. Pru just completed a secondment at Tech City UK, set up by Number 10 Downing Street, to support Europe’s fastest growing tech cluster. She is seen as pivotal to the growth of the tech community in London. Pru is a tech specialist with a global network, she has developed a strong reputation in supporting companies in their international growth, including recent fintech missions to Southeast Asia and USA.
@RSOHONI
RESHMA SOHONI
SEEDCAMP
PARTNER AND CO-FOUNDER
Reshma Sohoni is Partner and Co-Founder of Seedcamp, Europe’s leading pre-seed and seed stage acceleration programme. Originally from New York, she moved to London in 2002 and later set up Seedcamp to help grow Europe’s startup scene. Seedcamp has now backed 13 fintech companies across Europe,
@ROBBIEPROFETA
ROBERTA PROFETA
INTESA SANPAOLO
INNOVATION LEAD FOR LONDON HUB EUROPEAN REGION AREA OF GOVERNANCE CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER
Roberta Profeta is Innovation Lead for London Hub, European Region and the Area of Governance Chief Innovation Officer at Intesa Sanpaolo. She is a mentor for Startupbootcamp, FinTech London, and Chaperone for Accenture FinTech Lab London. Previously, she launched the London-based innovation activities for the Corporate & Investment Banking division of Intesa Sanpaolo. Roberta has also worked for the European Commission - DG Research, as Policy Officer and Relationship Manager for US Large Corporates at Banca Intesa 38
@ANTHEMIS
SAMANTHA GHIOTTI
ANTHEMIS EDGE Co-Founder
Samantha Ghiotti is Co-Founder at Anthemis Edge, the innovation advisory arm of Anthemis Group. She brings an unusual mix of corporate, startup and academic experience and is a recognised thought leader in the strategic innovation space. Samantha works with clients to create sustainable new businesses that leverage emerging models, technologies and customer needs. With over 15 years of experience in financial services, she brings a creative, hands-on approach to growing and reinventing businesses in the digital space. She has also held several senior roles at the Royal Bank of Scotland, First Data and American Express.
@P2Pfa
SAMANTHA RIDLER
P2PFA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Sam Ridler is Executive Director at the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association (P2PFA), a trade body that represents peer-to-peer lending and peer-to-peer invoice trading. Her work includes drafting industry responses to government consultations, liaising with regulatory organisations, data analysis and thought leadership. Sam is also the UK’s expert representative in the European Commission’s European Crowdfunding Stakeholder Forum, where she promotes awareness of peer-to-peer lending and engages the Commission to ensure a Pan-European proportionate approach is taken to the sector.
@VOCALINK
SARA PARKER
VOCALINK
PRODUCT DIRECTOR
Sara Parker is Product Director at VocaLink. Sara has more than 20 years experience in the payments industry, developing strategic solutions in the real-time transaction processing space. At VocaLink she leads product development with a team that has, for more than 25 years, securely processed transactions on behalf of the Link Scheme.
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@SARAH_NUTMEG
SARAH BUTCHER
APAX PARTNERS HEAD OF COMPLIANCE
Sarah Butcher is Head of Compliance at Apax Partners. Prior to this, she was Compliance Officer for Nutmeg Saving and Investment Limited, the online investment manager that has won several awards for innovation in the fintech arena. Nutmeg has been leading dramatic change in the wealth management industry to provide a straightforward, transparent, convenient investment management service for customers via its user-friendly web interface. Sarah’s core role was to guide and challenge the Nutmeg team to ensure that its services are developed and marketed in line with regulatory standards.
@SARAHDRINKWATER
SARAH DRINKWATER
HEAD OF CAMPUS
Sarah Drinkwater is Head of Campus at Google. Campus is Google’s seven-storey building offering a support network, mentoring, education and lots more, to early stage entrepreneurs. In 2014, Campus reached 40 thousandregistered members and delivered 1.1 thousand hours of mentoring between startups and Google experts. From launching a baby-friendly startup, Campus for Mums in the UK, to building a global network across the four Campuses due to launch in 2015, Sarah is a strong supporter of the London ecosystem, particularly fintech.
@SHARONANNEKEAN
SHARON KEAN
ZOPA
HEAD OF TECHNICAL DELIVERY
Sharon Kean is Head of Technical Delivery at Zopa. Sharon joined Zopa with a background in UX and product management, having worked for the likes of Cancer Research UK and Government Digital Service (GDS). Sharon spent most of last year working on the borrowing side of Zopa’s peer-to-peer lending model before moving into wider technology delivery. She is now responsible for the quality of the technology Zopa builds and the way they build it, ultimately helping Zopa redefine how everyday people borrow and invest their money. 40
@SCOUTU
SHERRY COUTU
SCALE-UP REPORT AUTHOR
Sherry Coutu is a serial entrepreneur and author of the ‘Scale-Up’ report on UK Economic Growth, which was commissioned by the UK Government in 2014. Sherry is a non-executive member of Zoopla plc, the London Stock Exchange Group plc, Cambridge University, Cambridge Assessment, Cambridge University Press, Raspberry Pi and Artfinder. She also serves as an advisor to Linkedin and is an Ambassador to London. Sherry is an LP in five VC firms and has founded and financed firms including ISI Emerging Markets, New Energy Finance and Duedil.
@SONALIDR
SONALI DE RYCKER
ACCEL PARTNERS PARTNER
Sonali De Rycker is a Partner at Accel Partners. Sonali has been investing in EU technology companies since 2000, and is passionate about backing entrepreneurs in next generation financial services and fintech. Sonali has led Accel’s investments in Avito, Lyst, Spotify, Calastone, KupiVIP, Wonga, Housetrip, Silverail Technologies, Top10 and Wallapop. Sonali is also an independent Director on the board of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI).
@SOPHIEBTALK
SOPHIE BIALASZEWSKI
LLOYDS BANKING GROUP
INNOVATION CULTURE AND EVENTS LEAD
Sophie Bialaszewski is Innovation Culture and Events Lead at Lloyds Banking Group. Sophie has been leading an innovation culture movement across the Group, including inspirational TED talks lite, innovation hackathons and raising LBG’s profile in the fintech community, with collaborations such as Startupbootcamp and Innovate Finance. Previously, Sophie has worked at the Post Office and IBM, leading culture change and corporate affairs strategies. She also worked at Tech Partnership, leading their Young People programmes.
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@SOPHIEGUIBAUD
SOPHIE GUIBAUD
FIDOR UK
HEAD OF FIDOR UK
Sophie Guibaud is Head of Fidor UK. She started her career in investment banking in New York before joining a growth capital fund in Paris. Along with investing in startups, she advised them on their development strategy. However, wanting to be more involved in startup operations, she moved to London and was instrumental in launching HelloFresh, a Rocket Internet food subscription-based company. After heading product strategy and commercialisation at Bankable, a payment solutions company, she is now in charge of the roll-out of the German community bank Fidor in the UK.
@ ROUGEFROG
STEPH BOUCHET
ROUGEFROG
FOUNDER MARKETING CONNOISSEUR
Stephanie Bouchet is Founder and Marketing Connoisseur at RougeFrog, a boutique marketing service company. Stephanie has over 15 years sector expertise, developed in world-beating startups and blue chip corporations, including Skype (where she headed Global Product Marketing), Joost, BT and Warner Bros. As a prominent member of the EU entrepreneurship community, Stephanie has been actively supporting fast-growing alternative finance startups, including Nutmeg, Landbay and iwoca, with their launch, brand development and marketing strategy.
PAULINA SYGULSKA TENNER
@GRANTTREE
GRANTTREE
DIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER
Paulina is a Director and Founder at GrantTree, which delivered over ÂŁ17million worth of equity free funding from the government, to over 350 innovating companies over the last four years. GrantTree is an open culture company, driving innovation not just in financial services , but also in how companies can be run with greater transparency and respect for people.
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@STEPHANIELEE100
STEPHANIE LEE
FINTECH INNOVATION LAB LONDON HEAD OF MARKETING ACCELERATOR
Stephanie Lee is Head of Marketing at FinTech Innovation Lab London. Stephanie is part of the team that established the FinTech Innovation Lab London, an accelerator run by Accenture which connects early stage financial technology startups to the most senior banking executives in the industry. Responsible for developing the marketing and bank-engagement strategy, Stephanie’s contribution to the programme is wide and varied and includes everything from building strategic partnerships to mentoring the startups.
@SUMOLAW
SUE MCLEAN
MORRISON & FOERSTER (UK) LLP SENIOR TECHNOLOGY LAWYER
Sue McLean is Senior Technology Lawyer at Morrison & Foerster. Sue has been advising financial service clients on technology projects for over 14 years. Sue continues to counsel on a variety of areas relevant to the fintech sector, including mobile and e-commerce, software and app development, hardware, networks, website/app terms and conditions, cloud computing, social media, big data analytics, privacy and cyber security. Her clients range from multinational financial services organisations to fast-growing fintech startups. Sue hosts events for the fintech sector and writes regularly on key legal and regulatory issues facing the industry. @FINTECHCIRCLE
SUSANNE CHISHTI
FINTECH CIRCLE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND FOUNDER
Susanne Chishti is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Fintech Circle, an international brand linking the fintech ecosystem of investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and influencers. Susanne is a senior capital markets manager, entrepreneur and investor with strong fintech expertise. She is a mentor, judge and coach at fintech events, such as SWIFT Innotribe and the Cambridge Judge Business School’s Accelerator. Fintech Circle is Europe’s first Angel Network focused on fintech opportunities.
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@THERESALBURT
THERESA BURTON
BUZZBNK.ORG
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Theresa Burton is Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Buzzbnk, an online crowdfunding platform supporting social ventures. Launched in 2011, Buzzbnk is the UK’s first crowdfunding platform specifically for lending or donating to social enterprises and charities. Before co-founding and setting up Buzzbnk, Theresa spent 16 years as a senior manager in the private sector, delivering global e-business, internet and enterprise business solutions for two large international corporations.
@THENUTMEGTEAM
TRACY SAMBROOK
NUTMEG
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Tracy Sambrook is Chief Financial Officer at Nutmeg. Tracy is an experienced B2C digital senior finance director and an integral part of Nutmeg’s ground-breaking fintech leadership team, helping to develop the brand and consumer proposition.
@QWIDDLEUK
VANESSA CAMERON
QWIDDLE
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Vanessa Cameron is Managing Director at Qwiddle, an online wallet that allows children and parents to work in partnership and to generate great conversations about money in families. This helps children think about setting goals for things they really want to buy, rather than impulse spending, doing tasks to learn that effort equals reward and the art of savvy spending to mention just a few skills.
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@CONTEGO
VANESSA RICHARDS
CONTEGO FRAUD SOLUTIONS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Vanessa Richards is Chief Operating Operator of Contego Fraud Solutions. Vanessa is dedicated to providing efficient and innovative compliance and anti-fraud solutions to companies in the financial sector. Much of her time is spent understanding customer requirements and tailoring the Contego System to deliver an effective solution, using the best combination of data sources, for the customer. Before joining Contego she managed, and then sold, an IT company providing back office systems to the banking industry.
@SYBENETIX
WENDY JEPHSON
SYBENETIX
CO-FOUNDER AND CHIEF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENTIST
Wendy Jephson is Co-Founder and Chief Behavioural Scientist at Sybenetix, where she heads a unique multi-disciplinary team that is providing deep, unprecedented insight to further enable elite performance and reputational excellence. Wendy is a business psychologist combining behavioural finance, biometrics, neuroscience and psychology with behavioural data to transform investment performance and conduct management for the financial industry. Recognised by industry bodies and leading business psychologists for her application of psychology to the management of risk, Wendy has been pivotal in creating enterprise behavioural analytics. @YY_FU
YENYUN FU
LONDON BRIDGE VENTURES
FOUNDING PARTNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Yenyun Fu is a Founding Partner and Managing Director of London Bridge Ventures. Yenyun was one of the early investors in several San Francisco and New York based marquee fintech companies, and she brings that knowledge and experience to the UK. Yenyun has been involved with mentoring Barclay’s Techstars Accelerator’s fintech companies, since the first cohort.
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International Women’s Day
In support of International Women’s Day which takes place this week, Innovate Finance has shone a light on our very own women in fintech. We’ve been honoured to share their accomplishments with the rest of our fintech community. Let’s continue to support and drive them on to even greater success. Women in fintech, thank you for your contributions. You have helped to level the playing field in our sector and, most importantly, to open the doors to equality a bit wider for the future generation of female leaders and pioneers.
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“Innovation is intrinsically linked to technology. How an organisation responds determines its survival, not just its success”
Erevena are head-hunters who work with high growth and established technology companies. We build and advise disruptive leadership teams across the technology ecosystem. We’ve helped shape some of Europe’s most exciting FinTech start-ups, building cutting edge teams across the B2B and B2C landscape. We also partner with some of the best known global banking brands on innovation, venturing and digital transformation. Our relationships across the breadth of the FinTech ecosystem enable us to better serve our clients: through the insight we can offer, the talent we can access; and the collaboration we can foster.
Find us at: www.erevena.com twitter.com/ErevenaSearch www.linkedin.com/company/erevena
www.innovatefinance.com