Venture capitalists will shift their focus to fintechs that support financial inclusion, according to Emmalyn Shaw, managing partner of the VC firm Flourish. Meanwhile, challenger banks will continue to grow, she says.
Fintech success stories have encouraged investors to back more startups, but newcomers will be hard-pressed to attract enough customers to compete while keeping expenses down.
The company's Silicon Valley Bank unit reduced its loan-loss cushion by $52 million. Private-equity and VC clients have warmed to the practice of doing deals virtually, which increases lending opportunities, SVB executives said.
The new unit plans to connect the startups it backs, such as the global payments network Veem, with experts at the company who can provide business advice.
Bolster, a marketplace for executives who can fill roles on an interim or advisory basis, is expected to fill a key need for the bank’s technology and life science clients.
Betsy Cohen, formerly of The Bancorp Bank, and venture capitalist Ryan Gilbert have created a vehicle to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, purchase a technology company and expand it.
Vanessa Colella, innovation chief at Citi, says remote working has had a democratizing effect. She also touches on the types of technology Citi has been incubating, the startups it’s investing in and her efforts at fostering a culture of generosity.
Jo Jagadish, who joined TD Bank in April as head of commercial products and payments innovation, spent her childhood moving country to country, so she's used to a world without borders — the kind world emerging from the capabilities of fintech and demands of the pandemic.