00:04:43 · Nik Storonsky, Robin Walters
[00:04:43] S1: Word-of-mouth, I would say. So that's a primary growth driver. And, obviously, when we when we're going to a new country, we try to make a buzz about us just to build this group of, you know, early adopters, people who who try our product and then recommend to to their friends and families. [00:04:59] S0: Obviously, you're not the only company trying to make banking sexy again, making it cheaper, better, a better user experience. What would you say sets you apart from your competition the most, you know, especially Monzo, Transferwise, these companies? [00:05:11] S1: We do much more than Transferwise, and we'll do it for free. Right? So Transferwise, they will change it from half percent to 1% with the transfers for free. And on top of it, we we do we do much more. Right? So you can spend with a card. You can have bank account with us. You can exchange money between your your accounts. So it's much wider product and a much sleeker compared to Transverse and much cheaper as well if we compare ourselves, like, you know, to to to other digital banks, such as small zone number twenty six. Again, product is much better. They don't provide interbank FX rates, and they are much slower compared to us in [00:05:46] S0: terms of, you know, releases of new products. Right. So it's more features and slightly different business model. I mean, you have a subscription product called premium. Yeah. How much does it cost, and what does it give you?
00:05:46 · Robin Walters, Nik Storonsky
[00:05:46] S0: terms of, you know, releases of new products. Right. So it's more features and slightly different business model. I mean, you have a subscription product called premium. Yeah. How much does it cost, and what does it give you? [00:05:56] S1: So it costs £7 a month. It gives you additional perks such as unlimited effects, double limits on ATMs for free, gives you wholesale pricing on different insurances, gives you free travel insurance. There are, like, so many perks. [00:06:13] S0: Great. You've also recently integrated cryptocurrency exchange, so only for premium users for now, I think? [00:06:20] S1: No. We actually unlocked it for everyone. So, yes, initially, it was for premium users. Now everyone has access. [00:06:27] S0: Right. So tell us more about the future. What what can you do [00:06:29] S1: with it? So we are adding a few more cryptocurrencies. So we're also working on integrating with a few exchanges in US as well to to serve US market. We are also working on allowing people to send the cryptocurrencies out of Revolut wallet to other wallets outside of our ecosystem, and then just just, you know, making other product much better compared to competition. [00:06:50] S0: From a geographical standpoint, what is your expense strategy? What are the markets that you want to tackle next? [00:06:55] S1: So the moment, we're very strong in The UK. We're always strong in Continental Europe, but we're working on it. And then we're expanding into US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong India. What do
00:06:55 · Nik Storonsky, Robin Walters
[00:06:55] S1: So the moment, we're very strong in The UK. We're always strong in Continental Europe, but we're working on it. And then we're expanding into US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Hong India. What do [00:07:04] S0: you actually need to do to launch in a new market? [00:07:07] S1: A lot of things. So we actually have a huge process in order to to go through because... I mean, it really depends if the license are easy to get. Right? We apply for licenses, and then we build infrastructure ourselves. Licenses are difficult to get. We strike partnerships usually with two banks, and then use the infrastructure and launch the product. But a lot of moving parts, and it's it's complex. [00:07:27] S0: I can imagine. So in general terms, how is the fintech scene in London these days from your perspective? [00:07:34] S1: It's booming. I mean, it's it's amazing. Right? So if you look across all, startups at the moment, I think fintech is, the most hot area to be in. Just, industry is huge. Financial services, 20% of GDP in almost any country. It's dominated by, very old corporates, right, who don't innovate. And then for us, it's a perfect opportunity to kind of build something great and then take the share of the market from them. [00:08:00] S0: Great. And from a product standpoint, what can we expect from Revolut in the next, like, let's say, two or three years?
00:08:00 · Robin Walters, Nik Storonsky
[00:08:00] S0: Great. And from a product standpoint, what can we expect from Revolut in the next, like, let's say, two or three years? [00:08:05] S1: Well, I will say two to six months. Right? We don't really have plans for for years. We're just usually fast to ship in in in months, not years. So next one which is coming is a wealth product. So you'll be able to invest in ETFs and different diversified portfolios, trading, zero commission trading, then what else we have on the retail side. Here, lounges, we finally want to launch to launch it. Metallicart, it's a new pricing plan, platinum. You'll be able to get metallic card with a certain cashback on all your purchases. So that's on the retail side of credit for businesses, so business will be able to to borrow money with us.
00:08:42 · Robin Walters
[00:08:42] S0: Great. Well, it sounds like you have a lot of big plans ahead. Thank you so much for taking the time, and good luck with the company and the rest of the conference. Thanks, Alex. Very interesting company for sure. I'm sure you'll agree. Now let's look at some recent funding rounds for European tech companies that garnered our attention in the past few weeks. There were quite a few big ones in the fintech arena, so let's take a look at those for starters. First up, there was UK digital bank Atom, which has raised £149,000,000 led by Spanish financial institution BBVA, along with asset manager Tosca Funds. And as part of the round, BBVA has invested £85,400,000 into the company, and that actually brings its total stake in the company up to 39%. So that's getting close to half of the company. Interestingly, BBVA has also invested quite heavily in another fintech startup along with Visa, Relaystar and ABN AMRO this time. That consortium has pumped about €56,600,000 into the German banking as a service platform, solarisBank. That company claims to have nearly 60 businesses currently using its white labeled suite of banking services and is on course to integrate with over 100 corporate clients by the end of this year. And then there's fintech firm Capitolis, which has raised $29,000,000 two separate rounds of funding. 20,000,000 came from Index Ventures and 9,000,000 from Sequoia Capital. The company, which is based in London with offices in Tel Aviv, New York, basically develops services and solutions for capital markets, such as equities and foreign exchange. And then we have made.com, which is a furniture e commerce firm based in The UK. They have raised £40,000,000 from Partech Ventures, Level Equity and Eight Roads Ventures, along with a new investor that has not been named mysteriously. Made.com basically links customers directly with furniture designers. It plans to use the new funds to expand further across Europe. In other news, France's competition authority may open investigations into Facebook and Google in the next few months after an in-depth examination concluded that the pair dominates the French online advertising market.
00:10:39 · Robin Walters, Sandis Kondrats
France is also threatening to fine Apple and Google for abusive commercial practices through their app stores amid growing scrutiny from European authorities of the biggest Internet companies whose size and sway over data collection have rapidly made them advertising giants. Finance Minister Bruno Le Meagh said last Wednesday that France will take legal actions against Google and Apple and fines could be in the millions of euros. Fines are actually likely to be about €2,000,000 per company, which are accused of taking advantage of local developers. This comes after a two year investigation by the ministry's fraud repression units, according to an official in Le Mer's office. And now let's have a listen to our second interview, podcast featuring the founder and CEO of a very interesting startup called Anatomy Next. His name is Sandis Kondrats, and his company just won the Tech Chill startup pitching competition. To learn what they're all about, listen up. Hey. This is Robin Walters from tech.eu, and I'm here in Riga, Latvia, where I attend the Tech Show conference. And the winner of the startup competition of that conference, was a Latvian company called Anatomy Next. And I'm sitting now with Sandis, who's a co founder and CEO of the company. Can you briefly tell us what the startup does? [00:11:49] S2: Yeah. So Anatomy Next is human body simulator for medical training in virtual reality. It's just like a a Google Maps for human body or a flight simulator, but for the human body. [00:12:01] S0: Okay. And you work on multiple platforms and headsets already?