The second edition of Finnovista Pitch Day in Bogotá, held on March 14, brought together more than 150 Fintech enthusiasts to know the role of the industry in the empowerment of women and financial inclusion.
This Finitech benchmark meeting in Latin America and Spain counted, on this occasion, with a panel of experts formed by Johanna Harker, Director of Wayra Colombia; Ana Barrera, CEO & Founder of Aflore; Esteban Velasco, CEO & Cofounder of Sempli and Natalia Triana Méndez, Digital Factory Manager | Innovation of Scotiabank Colpatria, who discussed how Fintech has become the vehicle to achieve financial inclusion, and at the same time, how it has contributed great value in the empowerment of women through the creation of much more efficient financial solutions and services with a gender perspective.
The word of Johanna
Johanna – who moderated the panel session – commented that Colombia leads the list of countries with the highest proportion of Fintech companies in which there is at least one woman in the founding team, which account for 50% of this type of company in the country . However, according to Esteban De Sempli, they face a lower rate of credit approval despite the fact that, historically, indicators of control, organization, management and payment of obligations are higher in those companies led by women.
For her part, Ana Barrera de Aflore gave details of how Aflore has provided financial support to hundreds of unbanked Colombian women. He also reflected on the experience of entrepreneurship in the Fintech ecosystem and concluded that in the feminine field to undertake one, one must “get out of their mental schemas.” They dictate that this is an eminently masculine activity.
What did Natalia say?
Finally, Natalia, Digital Factory Manager | Innovation of Scotiabank Colpatria, said that Scotiabank Colpatria seek to create digital solutions that meet the particular needs of different population groups and segments, including women, who, according to the speaker, “have a vision of the future, acquiring mortgage and making good use of several savings accounts. ”
In turn, during the initial presentation, Finnovista made public the X-ray of the ecosystem in Colombia, Fintech Radar, in which the country is consolidated as the third Fintech ecosystem in Latin America, reporting a net growth of 45% in the last 18 months .
At the end of the panel, 6 Fintech startups took to the stage to pitch. These were selected by the Finnovista team among the more than 35 projects that were registered during the months prior to the event. The finalist startups had the opportunity to present their companies before the audience of Finnovista Pitch Day and before a panel of mentors formed by: Andrés Mauricio Ramírez (Director of Digital Transformation and Financial Inclusion, Asobancaria), Marcelino Herrera Vegas (Vicepresident Digital Banking Colombia, Colpatria Scotiabank), Paula Arango (Vice President, Elevate Equity) and Thomas McAllister (Country Manager Colombia, NovoPayment).
These are the emerging Fintech startups that presented their project to mentors and key industry agents
Beriblock, solution for the registration, protection and negotiation of securities and / or securities as electronic promissory notes through Blockchain technology.
Credyty
A platform for financing student loans that seeks to promote access to higher education in Colombia and LatAm.
Fináncialo Mejor
Offers a comparison platform for online loans to connect consumers with multiple banks and credit collaborators.
Oingz
A savings platform that not only allows you to create objectives, but also its algorithm organizes and optimizes users’ money, assigning it among the objectives so that they can be achieved.
Powwi
Offers electronic transactional operations, with the objective of expanding the coverage of financial services, reducing informality and cash operations at the national level, through a financial inclusion of use.
Omni Bnk
The first digital platform for financial solutions in Latin America, for companies, which changed the rules through fast, transparent financing and with all the freedom that was always wanted.
Finnovista Pirch Day Bogotá concluded with a networking session where all the innovators of the sector could share experiences and get to know all the actors involved in the ecosystem that attended the event.
From here we want to thank your support and trust to our sponsors, Asobancaria, Accenture, Scotiabank Colpatria and Novopayment: organizations highly committed to the Fintech endeavor in Colombia, as well as Visa, which has sponsored this edition as part of Visa Everywhere’s actions Initiative: Women’s Edition, a global program focused on women entrepreneurs.