The Current State of Fintech Venture Capital

Meet Cameron Peake, Partner at Financial Venture Studio.

Cameron is an entrepreneurial leader who has launched, built, and scaled fintech companies around the world (fun fact- we used to work together and I can personally attest to her greatness).

With a background as vast as Cameron's, seeing her in a venture role makes perfect sense to me. As such, this week's topic is the current state of fintech venture capital.

In her role as Partner at Financial Venture Studio, Cameron identifies and supports early founders to build the world’s best fintech companies. Before venturing into the VC world, Cameron was on the other side of the pitch as the CEO and Co-Founder of Azlo, a leading digital banking platform for small businesses in the US. There, she grew the company to support the financial and business needs of small entrepreneurs, and was recognized as one of Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 for her work to deliver financial services to businesses impacted by COVID.

Listen in to our conversation and read Cameron's full interview below to hear her POV on the shifts in the VC market in the last few months, why there has been a slow down in deal funding, how tech layoffs can lead to an increase in startups, and what she is excited about looking ahead to Q4 investing opportunities.

#TechTuesday?Highlight #114:?Cameron Peake, Partner at Financial Venture Studio

How/why did you get into your space?

I made the jump to fintech VC earlier this year. My background before then has been on the operational side. I was most recently the co-founder/ CEO of Azlo, a digital bank for SMBs, and prior to that launched fintechs in emerging markets (Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Philippines). I stepped back from Azlo about a year ago and spent time advising fintech founders- then realized that I love supporting founders and made the jump into venture.?

What role do you play in the tech ecosystem and why is that role important?

I’ve devoted my career- whether at Azlo or in emerging markets prior to that – to using financial technologies in new ways to better serve markets. Although I’m no longer?building?with that ambition in mind, I’m now taking a portfolio approach to broaden that impact, and helping others to learn from my successes and mistakes. I think what’s been particularly energizing for me – as a former CEO in an industry where less than 5% of fintech CEOs are women- is doing this in support of underrepresented founders – I got a lot of guidance and mentorship to unlock my own leadership style, and want to do that for others. Big ideas and impact will be unlocked from people who don’t look like the stereotypical entrepreneur.?

How has technology impacted your industry and why is this important??

What hooked me to the technology angle was doing work in places like Haiti, Indonesia, etc. In Indonesia we launched a wholesale microfinance bank where we linked up those small MFIs with technologies like digital remittances, ATMs, etc. I remember talking to someone who was savings hours of time and meaningful money by being able to send money from the phone as opposed to leaving their businesses, driving hours to the bank, waiting in line, etc. I crazily saw parallels to this while at Azlo. In general technology has enabled financial services to be more immediate, secure, curated, and seamless- and those trends continue to play out after over a decade of doing this.?

What do you believe is the most exciting tech trend for 2022 (as it relates to your industry)?

Digitizing segments of the market and payments flow that continue to be offline. It’s kind of crazy that these segments still exist, but I think there are giant swaths of industry that have historically resisted tech or been ignored that are finally warming up. We have a portfolio company digitizing school payments (primarily paper checks today), and another digitizing trade equipment finance. I think markets are now ready to accept more modern forms of commerce, and founders are ready to tackle the problem.?

Who is a person that inspires you in the space and why?

There’s so much to admire about fintech founders and folks in the space, but as I think about some of the crazy inspirational people I’ve met, so many of them come from my prior life in emerging markets. I can think of one former colleague (Leesa) who launched the first MFIs after the fall of the Soviet Union, and who has been going around since using technology to transform peoples lives across the world. I find that sort of intrepid energy and altruistic drive incredibly inspiring.?

What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into your space?

For them to start a company! I cannot tell you how much more helpful I am as an investor having been in the founder seat previously. Plus it’s an amazing opportunity to learn, grow, and make an impact.?

Anything else we should know about you or you want to include?

We just raised our second fund and we’re excited to partner with founders looking to build amazing fintech companies.?

#fintech?#innovation?#tech?#womenintech?#womeninfintech?#venturecapital #vc #womeninvc #founders

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Have thoughts on this week’s trends or questions for me or Cameron? Post your thoughts in the comment section or share them on Twitter. Please include the hashtag?#techtuesday?and mention me @ScarlettSieber! Until next week.???

You can connect with Cameron on?LinkedIn and Twitter.

Follow?Scarlett Sieber on LinkedIn?for the latest news in?#fintech.