Georgie Friedrichs
CrowdfundingHub
As an investor, investing into fintech companies can seem like a big step to take. The fintech market is a very specific, fast-moving market with its own risks and opportunities which can differ a lot from other more settled markets It requires research and careful selection of the right companies to fit your investment goals and your portfolio.
The FINE (Fintech Investor Network and Ecosystem) project aimed to create more inclusive and connected networks between Fintech ecosystems on a local and international level, by promoting collaboration between investors through co-investment in Fintech startups, thus creating a richer investment climate that will support innovation and companies scale-up across borders.
To realize collaboration between investors successfully, the knowledge level of all investors involved is important. Investors will not start investing together if the parties involved do not have sufficient knowledge of specific investments their risks, and of each other. This is especially the case when investing in Fintech, which is a sector with very specific characteristics. Additionally, investing internationally requires knowledge of the investment infrastructure and conditions in the other country.
Another one of FINE’s aims was to create an inclusive investment ecosystem that empowers new investors, young investors, and women and minority investors to learn investment fundamentals and case-specific knowledge about investing in Fintech. This also requires these investors to be able to reach sufficient knowledge levels to participate in an investment ecosystem. That is why one of the pillars of the FINE project was the online Investor Academy, part of the project Knowledge Base
FINE has created an inclusive investment ecosystem by creating educational material on an online platform that empowers investors to learn investment fundamentals and case-specific knowledge about investing in Fintech.
The platform contains a tailor-made package of training material and information developed to reach a number of target groups:
- New investors
- Young investors
- Experienced investors wanting to enter the fintech market
- VC’s wanting to start up a new VC for the fintech market
- Minority investors, who are underrepresented in all investment markets
- Female investors, who are especially underrepresented in the Fintech market
The last two groups deserve a special mention: The underrepresentation of women and minorities is present in all sectors worldwide, not just in fintech, and will influence economic growth. EIB research states that closing the gender and minority gap could increase global GDP by 26%. And Mc Kinsey’s research report (2022) concludes that investing in a diverse pool of entrepreneurs would increase innovative power and could double the number of new firms in 10 years’ time. In Fintech the underrepresentation is even larger, so these groups deserve even more focus here.
Products and Reports
The first product developed was an assessment of the educational needs in the market (Fine deliverable 2.1 educational need assessment and curriculum development, 2024) which led to a curriculum still needed to fill knowledge gaps. The analysis concluded for investors in general there was more information needed in the following fields:
- Characteristics of Fintech investor opportunities compared to investing alternatives. Added value of investing into Fintech (USP)
- Course material on Fintech entry and exit strategies
- How to find interesting investment opportunities in Fintech
- Interaction with Fintech representatives
- Successful investment case studies through the eyes of the (lead) investor.
- Return/risk reports for Fintech investments
- Country specific investment characteristics
- Country specific Fintech information
After the report was concluded, the development of material was started. During the development process it became clear that the material for the different target groups could be combined into one e-Learning covering all the necessary information. Cooperation with the Elfin network for women investors helped us to develop a useful e-Learning covering the basic material, Specific material on the fintech market was added. The e-Learning is freely accessible and can be found on the FINE website ( https://fintechnetwork.eu/investors-academy/ ).
The e-Learning teach participants:
- The fundamentals of investing: Get to grips with key investment concepts like stocks, bonds, and ETFs.
- How to build one’s own investment strategy: A step by step guidethrough the process of creating a personalized investment plan.
- Understanding risks and rewards: Learn how to assess risks and understand how different asset classes perform over time.
- Long-term wealth-building techniques: Discover how compounding works and how to make money grow over the years.
- How to select and diversify investments: It helps choose the right mix of assets for a well-balanced portfolio.
- Practical steps to get started: From opening an investment account to making the first purchase, a guide through the process.
- How to incorporate sustainability into investing: Learn about ESG investing and how to align financial goals with your own values.
- What are the opportunities and challenges of investing onto Fintech companies.
The e-Learning consists of 11 models with 55 lessons in total. Alongside the e-learning specific material, for example how to invest as a business angel or how to start your own VC to invest into Fintech, was developed in the form articles and podcasts. A number of fintech case studies were also included to give a more practical insight into Fintech investments.
The different content built for this Investor Academy had as an objective to generate innovative information for investors regarding investing in Fintech. This feature of the FINE Project has created as much information as possible in the same place, to bring meaningful insights to potential Fintech investors.