By Kati Suominen, Founder and CEO of TradeUp
A great DHL Express report reveals that the majority of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) see growth opportunities internationally and expect to derive up to 50 percent of their revenues internationally by 2019. The survey of 480 SME executives and experts from business lobbying groups around the world also reveals that SMEs across the world say that international growth often comes at a significant upfront costs - of meeting standards, finding customers, complying with trade rules, etc. While many globalizing companies of today are too small to have their needs for these larger-scale capital injections effectively met by banks, there are non-bank solutions. TradeUp is one key part of the solution - opening globalizing SMEs access to growth capital that enables them to take care of the upfront costs of international expansion and grow. Read more about globalization and its funding at TradeUp Blog. By Jouko Ahvenainen, Chairman of GrowVC Group The British voters indicated that they want the UK to leave the EU (called ‘Brexit’). The UK has been an integral part of the European Union since 1970’s and it is not a simple process to leave the EU. The UK and EU must agree on the future arrangement, including trade agreements, possible common regulation and movement of people. This has an impact on finance services, including digital finance and fintech. The UK Prime Minister David Cameron decided to resign after the referendum. The new Prime Minister Theresa May starts on July 13, and it is then her duty to start to work with the resignation and EU relationship negotiation process. The referendum decision is not binding, although it is politically difficult for the Members of Parliament to ignore it. There is a lot of speculation whether Brexit really will happen. It is not an easy step to leave the single European market. Theresa May has said she is going to respect the will of the voters, but there is a lot of uncertainty on how the breakup will actually be implemented and on what the UK’s relationship with the EU will be going forward. Politically, the situation is even more complex. Scotland has had its own independency plans for a while now, and has said it would leave the UK if the UK leaves the EU. And there is also a threat that Brexit could shake the relatively new peace in Northern Ireland. People in Northern Ireland also have talked about an exploring an option to join Ireland. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, the majority of voters wanted to stay in the EU. At this point it is impossible to give a detailed analysis when we have no information on what the EU - UK relationship will be in the future. We don’t even know the negotiation targets of the UK or the EU. In principle, we can say it can be anything from the models Norway and Switzerland have with the EU to the global WTO model. For example, Norway is a part of the single market, but it has to follow all EU rules, including free movement of people that is a big issue in the UK. Switzerland is not directly a part of the single market, but it has agreements to cover free trade and also free movement within certain limits, but its banks cannot operate in the EU single market (that’s why many Swiss banks have had EU business HQs in London). The UK will need to negotiate trade agreements not only with the EU, but with many other countries in the world, because up till now, it has been able to trade based on EU’s deals with those countries. It takes a lot of time and resources to negotiate these agreements and already there have been comments that the UK does not have enough competence to handle this given that for 40 years they haven’t had a need to. So, they probably need to hire competent negotiators from other countries, including the US. According to the EU rules, the resignation process takes two years. Officially the UK hasn’t yet triggered the resignation, and it is still unclear when they are going to do it. And it is also possible that it takes more than two years to agree to all terms and conditions of the resignation and agree on a new arrangement. For example, the EU is now finishing a trade agreement with Canada that has taken 7 years. The TTIP and TTP negotiations have also taken years. It has been said that Brexit is the most complex and expensive divorce in the world. It will take years, and it is still unclear if it really changes things, or if is it will be more like an “almost a member” arrangement with a new name. But it has already created a lot of uncertainty for the UK economy and its trading partners, forcing many companies to consider what to do with their UK based operations. It would be important for companies and the economy to find a new arrangement or at least targets for the new arrangement as soon as possible. Read the whole article and more details on TradeUp Blog.
Successful crowdfunding campaign needs attention and dedication. According to Massolution, the total global crowdfunding industry fundraised $34 Billion in 2015. The biggest piece of the money came from P2P lending with $25 Billion, followed by donation & reward crowdfunding with $5.5 Billion raised and equity crowdfunding with $2.5 Billion…And the growth keeps accelerating. Still we are not there where we can say that crowdfunding is mainstream. People recognize the word crowdfunding but still there are many unknowns and assumptions towards it. Crowdfunding is not to place campaign online and wait for the money to come. As many of those who have actually run a crowdfunding campaign know, being successful is not easy. You need to have to think the following aspects to make your campaign successful:
Read more about each activity at Kapipal Blog. We hope these best practises help you with your crowdfunding campaign. Feel free to start even today! As always, don’t hesitate to contact Kapipal if you have any questions. Crowd Valley (a Grow VC Group company) is on a mission to modernize financial services, with its sights on being the back bone platform for new digital finance applications around the world. We’re growing fast and looking for talented individuals to join us on our mission.
Our culture is transparent and meritocratic, customer centric and long term value based. We believe in the mission we are on and we all align ourselves around this goal, daily and long term. Take a look at two new positions below and get in touch if you’re the one we’re looking for: http://news.crowdvalley.com/apply.html Role: Relationship Manager The role of the relationship manager is to build and manage substantial relationships with clients and partners of Crowd Valley, with the aims of increasing long term client satisfaction and account development. The role will include manage relationships with partners, indirectly affecting the ultimate client experience. Requirements: - Excellent written and spoken English, and general communication skills (other languages a plus) - Experience in managing people and expectations, whether internal teams or account management - Problem solver attitude, does not blame others for mistakes, but regroups and learns - Comfortable in a collaborative environment and with project management, communications and CRM tools such as Trello, Capsule CRM and Slack - Passion for learning: ability, willingness and drive to learn new concepts and tools Role: Growth Marketer (Remote OK) Responsibilities include: - Collaborate with the marketing team to evaluate and optimize growth strategy - Reach out to media contacts for articles / interviews / speaking opportunities - Assist with blog and social media management - Help to build databases and relationships with journalists and media outlets to ensure coverage for Crowd Valley - Stay on top of the latest trends in digital marketing and in the fintech industry Requirements: - Well-versed in digital marketing tactics, including email marketing, SEM, SEO, etc. - Comfortable in a collaborative environment and with project management, communications and CRM tools such as Trello, Capsule CRM and Slack - Savvy with all social media platforms - Excellent written English, and verbal communication skills (other languages a plus) - Passion for learning: ability, willingness and drive to learn new concepts and tools - Positive, entrepreneurial can-do attitude - Experience with Google Analytics - Experience with Weebly and other CMS - Desirable experience with visual design tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Canva Get in touch if you’re the one we’re looking for: http://news.crowdvalley.com/apply.html According to a report published by Accenture Strategy and the Partnership Fund for New York City, Q1 2016 was the first quarter ever that New York passed Silicon Valley in fintech venture financing.
Financial technology (fintech) companies based in New York have been able to raise $690 million in venture capital funding in the first quarter of the year, against to the $511 raised in the Silicon Valley area. Compared to the previous year, fintech investment in New York tripled to $2.3 billion in 2015. At a global level, the percentage of investments in fintech companies disrupting the financial services industry and that of of those looking to collaborate with traditional financial institutions has not changed much in the past five years, with the majority of the deals (62%) going to competitive companies. In New York instead we can see a different story. While in 2010, only the 37% investments went to fintech companies collaborating with financial institutions, in 2015 the percentage rose to 83%. As we have previously noted when examining the global fintech investments, as well as from the conversations that we had recently with our clients and partners, it emerges that a rising number of traditional financial players, like banks, financing institutions and insurance companies are looking to make partnerships with fintech startups, to help them with innovation inside their organizations. Contextually there is also increased attention from major banks to invest in the fintech sector with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Banco Santander between those with the highest number of investments. Read the whole article on Crowd Valley News. The British voters indicated that they want the UK to leave the EU, and Grow VC Group and its companies carefully follow and analyze the situation. At this point it is impossible to make any detailed analysis, when we have no information what the relationship of the EU and the UK will be in the future. UK based finance services that have been a part of EU’s internal market, including the ‘passport’ model to be able to offer services in each EU country are unlikely to continue as is. EU is a very important market, the world biggest common market comprising of 500 million people. That’s why we plan to invest more in the EU market and start more operations within the EU. At the same time we increase our activities in the US and Asian markets. In the near future we will announce two new operations in Grow VC Group. We are just in the final process to choose the locations and jurisdictions for those operations. We hope to see that the UK and London play a part as important finance and fintech hubs also in the future. You can read more from Grow VC Group memos (in 5 European languages):
Los votantes británicos dejaron claro que quieren que el Reino Unido abandone la Unión Europea. Reino Unido ha sido parte integral de la Unión Europea desde 1970 y no va a ser un proceso simple salir de la UE. Reino Unido y la UE deben ahora ponerse de acuerdo sobre futuros acuerdos, incluyendo la renegociación del Tratado de Libre Comercio existente o la posible coordinación y regulación de los flujos de personas entre ambos territorios. Todo esto sin duda tendrá un impacto en el sector de los servicios financieros, incluyendo el Fintech así como en los nuevos modelos de financiación digital.
Dada la falta de información sobre la futura relación entre la UE y Reino Unido, no es posible por el momento llevar a cabo una evaluación de impacto detallada. Es cierto que las próximas negociaciones serán largas y complicadas, pero no sabemos cuál será su contenido. Puede ser que el estado futuro del Reino Unido en la UE se base en modelos actuales como el de Noruega o Suiza, así como en modelos de la Organización Mundial del Comercio. Los servicios financieros con base en el Reino Unido que han formado parte del mercado interior de la UE, incluyendo el modelo de "pasaporte" para poder ofrecer servicios en todos los países de la UE, es poco probable que continúe tal como los conocemos. Cualquiera que sea el tipo de acuerdo que se firmó, lo cierto es que Reino Unido ya no podrá disfrutar de los mismos beneficios que los países miembros de la Unión Europea. Grow Advisors, una compañía dentro de Grow VC Group, hizo el pasado mes de abril un análisis sobre el Brexit en el sector Fintech, destacando las siguientes cuestiones claves para las empresas Fintech:
El fin de la libre circulación también significaría para los emprendedores europeos una mayor dificultad de moverse a Londres, prefiriendo otros destinos como podría ser Estados Unidos. La Unión de los Mercados de Capital, la reciente iniciativa de la UE para construir un mercado común para el capital disponible en Europa, ofrece una gama simplificada de servicios financieros y ayuda a las organizaciones europeas en el aumento de su capital. Esto será particularmente importante para las PYMEs, que les permitirán recaudar fondos con mayor facilidad, y por lo tanto tendrán mayor capacidad para competir con sus homólogos extranjeros. La ciudad de Londres antes era un firme defensor de este proyecto, y Lord Hill (comisario europeo de estabilidad financiera), que antes lo lideraba, ha renunciado y ahora parece poco probable que Reino Unido forme parte de esta Unión de Mercados de Capital. Grow VC Group opera a nivel mundial, y siempre ha considerado Londres como centro financiero líder y como un centro de Fintech. En la actualidad, tenemos empresas y personas en el Reino Unido. La complejidad de la situación actual se ve reforzada por la falta de información sobre la nueva relación entre el Reino Unido y la UE; que ilustra esta complejidad mediante la inclusión de la incertidumbre de la situación futura de Escocia. La UE es un mercado muy importante, el mayor mercado común del mundo que comprende más de 500 millones de personas. También vemos que los nuevos modelos de financiación digital y Fintech han comenzado a emerger en la UE. Por ellos, tenemos la intención de invertir más en el mercado de la UE e iniciar más operaciones dentro de la UE. Al mismo tiempo, estamos aumentando nuestra actividades en los mercados de Estados Unidos y Asia. Próximamente vamos a anunciar dos nuevas operaciones en Grow VC Group. Estamos justo en el proceso final para elegir los lugares y jurisdicciones para esas operaciones. Evaluamos:
Creemos que este es un proceso que también muchas otras compañías financieras están considerando ahora tanto para sus nuevas operaciones como también para las existentes en el Reino Unido. Esperamos que la posición del Reino Unido, incluyendo su acuerdo con la UE, puede ser aclarada muy pronto. Los negocios se construyen sobre los principios de la estabilidad y la previsibilidad. Esperamos que Reino Unido en general y Londres, en particular, continúen jugando un papel destacado, acogiendo más empresas Fintech y ayudando a desarrollar el sector de las finanzas digitales en el continente europeo. British voters have expressed a willingness to leave the EU. The United Kingdom, part of the European Union since 1970, is now faced with a detachment to the European Union not simple. The UK and the EU must agree on a range of issues, including trade agreements, a possible common regulation and also for the freedom of movement of people. This certainly has an impact on financial services, including digital finance and Fintech. At this point you can not make any detailed analysis, having no information about what will be in the future relations between the EU and the United Kingdom. We do not know what will be the negotiating objectives of the two interlocutors. In general, we can say that the new relationship could be inspired by models of Norway and Switzerland with the EU, up to the global model of the WTO. The financial services based in the UK, who have been part of the EU internal market, including the 'passport' model to be able to offer services in every EU country, is unlikely to continue as we know them. This agreement is merely improbable, if (and when) the UK is not part of the EU. Grow Advisors, a company part of the Grow VC Group, in April has made an analysis on brexit, highlighting how key issues for Fintech companies: 1) how to offer services in the EU, 2) being able to have enough talented employees if the free movement of workers is removed, and 3) in particular the impact of the two previous questions for startups Fintech when they have fewer resources to manage regulations and work visas. The end of freedom of movement could also mean that European entrepreneurs, and would more difficult to move to London, could begin to prefer other places, including the United States. 'Capital Markets Union' was a new EU initiative to build a common market for capital within the European Union, to help provide financial services and to help European organizations facilitating capital raising. Of great importance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), facilitating the collection of capital and improving competitiveness at the global level. The City of London has been a strong supporter of this initiative, led by the British EU Commissioner Lord Hill, who has now decided to resign. The UK leaving the EU in all likelihood will not be part of the 'Capital Markets Union'. Having as Grow VC Group operations worldwide, we have always seen the United Kingdom and London as a major hub for the Fintech and finance in general. We have companies and people in the UK. The most complex part of the current situation is that we do not have any information about the new relationship that will be established between the United Kingdom and the European Union, with Scotland also hangs in the balance. What the EU is a very important market, the largest common market in the world made up of 500 million people, with digital finance and Fintech who really started to emerge. That's why we plan to invest more in the EU market and start more operations within the same. At the same time we intend to increase our activities in the US markets and Asia. A brief will be announced two new activities within the Grow VC Group. We are now in the final phase of the process for the selection of locations and jurisdictions for such operations. What we consider are: 1) markets, 2) regulations, 3) operating costs, 4) credibility of the country in terms of financial services, and 5) availability of talent. We think this is a process that now also many other financial companies are considering, and to the start of new activities, and for those already existing in the United Kingdom. We hope that the position of the UK, including the agreement with the EU, can be clarified as soon as possible. To do business there need stability and predictability. Our hope is to see the UK and London to play an important role in finance and Fintech in the future. The British voters indicated that they want the UK to leave the EU. The UK has been an integral part of the European Union since 1970’s and it is not a simple process to leave the EU. The UK and EU must agree on the future arrangement, including trade agreements, possible common regulation and movement of people. This has impact on finance services, including digital finance and fintech. At this point it is impossible to make any detailed analysis, when we have no information what the relationship of the EU and the UK will be in the future. We don’t even know the negotiation targets of the UK or the EU. In principle, we can say it can be anything from the models Norway and Switzerland have with the EU to the global WTO model. UK based finance services that have been a part of EU’s internal market, including the ‘passport’ model to be able to offer services in each EU country are unlikely to continue as is. This arrangement is simply unlikely if and when the UK is not a part of the EU. Grow Advisors, a Grow VC Group company, made a brexit analysis for fintech in April and it analyzed that for fintech companies the key issues would be,
The end of free movement would also mean that for European entrepreneurs it is more difficult to move to London and they could prefer other places, including also the US, when it is not anymore easier to come to the UK. Capital Markets Union has been EU’s new initiative to build a more common capital market inside EU, help offer finance services and also help European organizations to better raise capital. It has been important also for SMEs that they could raise more capital to compete globally. London City has been a strong supporter of this project and it has been led by British EU Commissioner Lord Hill. He now decided to resign and when the UK is not part of the EU, most probably it is not a part of this Capital Markets Union. The Grow VC Group has global operations and we have always seen the UK and London as an important finance and fintech hub. We have companies and people in the UK. The most complex part of the current situation is that we have no information about the new relationship of the UK and EU, even the role of Scotland is uncertain. EU is a very important market, the world biggest common market comprising of 500 million people. We also see that digital finance and fintech have really started to emerge in the EU. That’s why we plan to invest more in the EU market and start more operations within the EU. At the same time we increase our activities in the US and Asian markets. In the near future we will announce two new operations in Grow VC Group. We are just in the final process to choose the locations and jurisdictions for those operations. We evaluate:
We believe this is a process that also many other finance companies consider now for their new operations and also for existing operations in the UK. We hope the UK position, including arrangement with EU, can be clarified very soon. Business builds on stability and predictability. We hope to see that the UK and London play a part as important finance and fintech hubs also in the future. A l’occasion du récent référendum, les électeurs britanniques ont indiqué leur souhait de voir leur pays quitter l’Union Européenne. Depuis les années 70, le Royaume-Uni fait pourtant partie intégrante de l’UE, et la procédure pour en sortir s’annonce complexe. Il va en effet falloir s’accorder sur des sujets délicats: par exemple la renégociation de l’actuel accord de libre-échange, ou l’éventuelle coordination et régulation des flux de personnes entre les deux territoires. Tout ceci ne manquera pas d’avoir un impact sur le secteur des services financiers, y compris sur les Fintechs et sur l’ensemble des acteurs de la ‘Digital Finance’. Etant donné l’absence d’informations à propos de la future relation entre l’UE et le Royaume-Uni, il n’est pas possible pour le moment de réaliser une étude d’impact détaillée. Il est certain que les négociations à venir s’annoncent longues et compliquées, mais nous ignorons quel en sera leur contenu. Il se peut que le futur statut du Royaume-Uni au sein de l’UE s’inspire de celui de pays tels que la Norvège ou la Suisse, mais le Royaume-Uni pourrait également se distancer plus nettement des instances européennes et s’établir en tant que simple pays membre de l’Organisation Mondiale du Commerce. Il semble peu probable que les services financiers britanniques qui faisaient partie intégrante du marché commun européen, puissent continuer à opérer de la même manière. Du fait de nouvelles régulations concernant les passeports, il sera par exemple plus compliqué pour les entreprises britanniques d’offrir un niveau de service identique au sein de chaque pays d’Europe. Quel que soit le type d’accord qui sera éventuellement signé, il est certain que le Royaume-Uni ne pourra plus bénéficier des mêmes avantages que les pays membres de l’Union Européenne. Grow Advisors, une entreprise membre du Grow VC Group, avait réalisé au mois d’avril une analyse des conséquences probables d’un Brexit pour le secteur de ‘Digital Finance’. Il en ressortait que les Fintechs se retrouveraient face aux difficultés suivantes :
Plus généralement, la fin de la libre-circulation des personnes risque de décourager les entrepreneurs européens désirant s’installer à Londres. Leur choix pourrait donc se porter sur d’autres pays membres de l’UE, mais aussi sur l’étranger, et notamment les États-Unis. L’Union des Marchés de Capitaux, récente initiative de l’UE pour construire un marché commun pour le capital disponible en Europe, propose une offre simplifiée de services financiers et assiste les organisations européennes lors de levées de fonds. Cette initiative s’avère particulièrement importante pour les PME, leur permettant de lever des fonds plus facilement, et donc d’être plus à même de rivaliser avec leurs homologues étrangères. La ville de Londres était jusqu’à présent une fervente supportrice de ce projet, et Lord Hill (commissaire européen à la stabilité financière), était à sa tête. Lord Hill a choisi de démissionner à l’annonce des résultats du référendum, et il s’avère aujourd’hui peu probable qu’un Royaume-Uni ne faisant plus partie de l’UE puisse intégrer une Union des Marchés de Capitaux. Le Grow VC Group opère de manière globale, et a toujours considéré Londres comme une place financière de premier plan et comme un hub pour les Fintechs. A ce titre, nous avons des entreprises (et donc des employés) dans le Royaume-Uni. La complexité de la situation actuelle est renforcée par le manque d’information à propos des nouvelles relations entre le Royaume-Uni et l’UE ; cette complexité s’illustrant notamment par l’incertitude liée au futur statut de l’Ecosse. Etant donné l’importance du marché européen, qui compte environ 500 millions de personnes (ce qui est en fait le plus grand marché commun), cette situation s’avère d’autant plus problématique. Nous avons également observé une émergence soutenue du secteur de ‘Digital Finance’, et la création de nombreuses Fintechs européennes. Conséquemment, nous avons décidé d’intensifier notre présence au sein de l’UE, tant en termes d’investissements qu’au niveau opérationnel. En parallèle, nous continuons de développer nos activités aux États-Unis ainsi que sur les marchés asiatiques. Le Grow VC Group compte annoncer dans un futur proche la création de deux nouvelles opérations sur le territoire européen. Il ne nous reste plus qu’à décider de leur emplacement, et de la juridiction sous laquelle leurs activités prendront place. Pour faire ceci, nous évaluerons avec attention les facteurs suivants :
Nous estimons que cette démarche est actuellement partagée par de nombreux acteurs financiers, que ce soit pour la création de nouvelles opérations sur le sol européen, ou pour des opérations existantes basées au Royaume-Uni. Nous espérons que la future relation avec l’UE sera rapidement clarifiée, et que les termes d’un accord seront rapidement connus. En effet, la stabilité et la prévisibilité sont deux piliers essentiels pour que des entreprises puissent se créer, et ensuite se développer. Mais nous espérons également que le Royaume-Uni en général, et Londres en particulier, continueront de jouer un rôle de premier plan. Notamment en accueillant des Fintechs et en contribuant à développer le secteur de ‘Digital Finance’ sur le continent européen. |
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