Wharton FinTech Podcast

Miguel Armaza sits down with Alexis Pantazis and Emilios Markou, Co-Founders of Hellas Direct, a digital-first, full-stack insurance company located in Greece. Modeling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence and data analytics. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies. The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, the IFC from the World Bank, Endeavor Catalyst, and a number of world-renowned angel investors. Alexis Pantazis Alexis Pantazis is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs where he led principal investing and new strategic initiatives for the firm in the European investment management field. A former strategy consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he also worked for Miramax Films in New York and the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission in Brussels. Alexis is a Fulbright and British Chevening Scholar, a Robert & Diane Levy Fellow and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur. Emilios Markou Emilios Markou is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hellas Direct. Prior to Hellas Direct, he was a Director in the European Financial Institutions Structuring team at Barclays Capital. Before that, he was an Executive Director at the Goldman Sachs Investment Banking Division where he led a number of projects within the firm's European insurance practice. A former strategy consultant with McKinsey & Company, Emilios advised a number of European, US and Asian clients on numerous strategic issues in insurance, banking, energy and transportation. Emilios is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (FIA) in the United Kingdom and an Endeavor Global Entrepreneur. Hellas Direct profile Hellas Direct is a digital-first, full-stack insurance company, empowered by cutting-edge technology and the use of advanced analytics. The company is backed by a roster of leading investors, including Portag3, IFC (a member of the World Bank), Endeavor Catalyst, former Goldman Sachs economist Lord O’Neill and private equity veteran Jon Moulton. Modelling itself on Amazon, Hellas Direct aims to disrupt the insurance value chain by adopting an extreme focus on operational excellence. Hellas Direct was recently listed by the Financial Times as one of Europe’s 1,000 Fastest Growing Companies.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Crystal Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer for FLEETCOR (NYSE: FLT), a leading payments company that aims to simplify the way businesses manage and pay their expenses by allowing them to automate, secure, digitize, and control payments on behalf of their employees and suppliers. FLEETCOR operates around the world and is listed on the NYSE with a current market cap of $20 billion. Crystal leads human capital across multiple business units and geographies and serves as strategic advisor to the Chairman and CEO. She is also an MBA graduate from the Wharton School. Crystal Williams Crystal Williams is the Chief Human Resources Officer for FLEETCOR, a leading global payments company. Williams leads human capital across multiple business units and geographies and serves as strategic advisor to the Chairman and CEO. She applies deep-rooted experience to establish widespread success in her key roles in mergers and acquisitions, talent management, and organizational development. During her 17-year tenure, Williams navigated the cultural transition around FLEETCOR’s IPO, grew the workforce from a few hundred to more than 8,000 employees, instituted numerous successful leadership development programs and leads a 129-person HR department with team members spanning 9 countries. Her strategic and dynamic approach to HR and leadership has earned recognition from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Women Worth Watching and the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Williams received an MBA in strategic management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. About FLEETCOR: FLEETCOR Technologies (NYSE: FLT) is a leading global business payments company that simplifies the way businesses manage and pay their expenses. The FLEETCOR portfolio of brands helps companies automate, secure, digitize, and control payments on behalf of their employees and suppliers. FLEETCOR serves businesses, partners, and merchants in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.FLEETCOR.com.

In this Wharton Fintech Podcast, Miguel Armaza is joined by Caribou Honig, Chairman & Co-founder of InsurTech Connect, as well as Co-founder of the HR Transform Conference, focused on the impact of technology on the workplace. Caribou is also a legendary investor that sits on the board of several startups. He previously co-founded QED Investors, a VC firm focused on data-driven companies, was a top executive at Capital One, and is currently a partner at SemperVirens, a VC focused on the Future of Work. Caribou’s Insurtech Connect, the leading InsurTech conference, will be taking place September 21 – 23, bringing 200+ leaders to the virtual stage. Register and find more information at https://insuretechconnect.com/ Caribou Honig Caribou Honig enjoys pursuing harebrained ideas and supporting the creation of new businesses. He is Chairman & Cofounder of InsureTech Connect as well as cofounder of the HR Transform conference focused on the impact of technology on the workplace. Caribou is an independent board director with several startups and is a partner at SemperVirens, a VC firm focused on the Future of Work. He previously cofounded QED Investors, a boutique venture capital firm focused on data-driven companies. Caribou and his wife live in Richmond, Virginia with their two occasionally annoying dogs.

Miguel Armaza is joined by Donna Parisi, Global Head of the Finance Business Unit for Shearman & Sterling, a global law firm with over 850 lawyers in 24 offices worldwide. Donna is one of the firm’s Financial Services Industry leaders and also leads Shearman & Sterling’s FinTech Foundry and Shearman Women, the firm’s women’s initiative. About Shearman & Sterling With more than 850 lawyers in 24 offices, Shearman & Sterling is a global law firm that partners with corporations, major financial institutions, emerging growth companies, governments and state-owned enterprises to provide the legal and industry insight needed to navigate the challenges of today and achieve their ambitions of tomorrow.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Craig J. Lewis, Founder and CEO of Gig Wage, a company building modern payment tools for the future of work. Gigwage’s innovative vision aims to modernize an antiquated industry by designing a service that meets the needs of on-demand workforces. Craig graduated from Morehead State University and upon graduation became a Professional Basketball player across Europe, until returning back state side and becoming an expert in payroll technology. Prior to building Gig Wage, Craig became the Chief Strategy Officer of Kairos, a facial recognition/emotion detection startup. Craig was an excellent guest and is an ambitious dreamer who believes is technology’s capacity for wealth creation and its ability to improve lives. He is committed to building this legacy for his family, wife, and 4 children, while elevating the community around him through mentorship and growth.

In our latest episode of the Wharton Fintech podcast, Anchit Gupta (WG '21) sits down with Nitya Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of Simpl. Simpl is a technology company that offers Pay-later solutions in India. Simpl has revolutionized online checkout in India by creating a market-leading Pay-Later platform, empowering e-commerce merchants to offer their consumers 1-click checkout, a line of credit at POS, and full buyer protection. Before starting Simpl, Nitya worked on Wall Street for more than 10 years, where he structured, traded and risk-managed structured credit portfolios at Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs. Before that, he was a co-founding portfolio manager at JNF Financial, a distressed credit hedge fund from 2010–2014.   Nitya initially moved back to India with the objective of starting an emerging-markets focused hedge-fund. However, he experienced the shortcomings of the Indian payments and credit stack first-hand when his credit card application was declined. This experience prompted him to dig deeper into the Indian payments landscape and subsequently led to the founding of Simpl. In this interview, Nitya shares: - His educational background and journey as an entrepreneur - His motivations for launching Simpl - Simpl's business model and the challenges of underwriting risk in a cash-first economy like India - Differences between banking infrastructure in India and the US - Simpl's plans to compete with financial incumbents as well as big tech firms such as Amazon and Google - The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Simpl - Nitya's future plans for the organization Nitya has his B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College and his Masters in Financial Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Sarah Hammer, Managing Director of the Stevens Center for Innovation in Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The Stevens Center is the premier research, education, and thought leadership institution in the world for financial technology and blockchain. Amongst Sarah’s many interesting initiatives, she is now leading and helping organize the upcoming Wharton Hackathon, COVID and the Economy, taking place September 21-27, 2020! Visit the website at https://whartonhackathon.com/ for full details, rules and to register yourself or a full team. Hackathon Prompt: How has COVID-19 affected different aspects of the global economy and financial markets? The Wharton Hackathon is open to anyone around the world and we are seeking a diverse group of participants from all levels of experience and academic and professional backgrounds. Teams can consist of 1-4 members and no technical expertise is necessary. Registration closes Friday, September 18th at 12:00 PM. There is no cost to register. Submissions are due Friday, September 25th @ 5:00 PM. Participants will compete for prizes totaling $4,000. We are also excited to announce that throughout the hackathon, academics and accomplished industry professionals will hold virtual discussions on the effects of COVID-19 on a variety of topics related to the economy and financial markets.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Lupina Iturriaga, Founder and Co-CEO of Fintonic, the leading financial platform in Spain, solving the main financial needs more than 1 million users, by enabling them to make payments worldwide with the Fintonic account and to control their finances in the same app. Launched in 2012 at the height of the financial crisis in Spain, Fintonic has raised over $50 million in funding from backers including Atresmedia, Blackbox, ING Ventures, Premier Specialty Network, All Iron Ventures, Ideon Media. Lupina graduated in Business Administration and Management from CUNEF, where she was awarded a scholarship based on academic merit, which proved her worth within the business and financial sector. For some time she was fully dedicated to the world of banking, first in New York and then in Madrid, where she spent some years in the world of treasury and commercial banking, to finally join the company IDEON as a partner, leader in the area of financial consulting. Lupina Iturriaga's professional career positioned her as an expert in financial planning from a very young age and this, together with her entrepreneurial profile, led her to found Fintonic in Spain. FINTONIC was born at the end of 2012, proving a success among those interested in taking advantage of new technologies applied to simplify and control personal finances, saving, getting the best financing and a very exclusive card and account available to its users. Today, more than one million users are already taking advantage of this application, which offers information in a neutral and objective way, so that any citizen can make the best decisions regarding their money, save and also contract the best products from more than 50 entities directly from their mobile phones. Fintonic's usefulness and efficiency in managing personal finances has earned it the first Mobile Innovation Award in the Finance sector from Google, and it was named by IOS as the best Finance app, included in the select ranking of the best 20 apps, with Fintonic being the only one in Finance.

Miguel Armaza is joined by Shinichi (Shin) Takatori, Founder and CEO of Kyash the largest digital bank in Japan offering digital wallet, mobile payments, and credit card services. Launched in 2015, Kyash has raised more than $70 million in funding from backers including all three major Japanese megabank groups and venture capital investors including Greenspring Associates and Broadhaven Capital Partners. Prior to Kyash, Shin worked at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and Kurt Salomon Consulting. He is a graduate of Waseda University.

Vanessa Colella is Citi’s Chief Innovation Officer (CIO), Head of Citi Ventures, and Head of Citi Productivity. She is focused on harnessing the power of Citi to help people, businesses, and communities thrive in a world of technological, behavioral, and societal change. Before assuming the role of CIO, Vanessa led venture investing and D10X for Citi Ventures, and previously ran marketing for Citi’s North American Consumer Bank. She joined Citi in 2010 from U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) after having held senior roles at Yahoo and McKinsey & Company. Vanessa received her masters’ degrees from Columbia University and M.I.T. as well as a Ph.D. from M.I.T.’s Media Lab. She holds an S.B. degree in molecular biology from M.I.T. and currently serves as a member of the Corporation’s Visiting Committee for the Media Lab.