Where Fintech Meets Proptech: Novicap Founder, Federico Travella Named Ukio’s advisor

There’s a surprising amount of overlap between the world of Fintech and Proptech and the Travella-Ukio alliance speaks to this synergy. Recently, Ukio brought on entrepreneur and Novicap founder, Federico Travella, as an advisor. We sat down with Travella to discuss what this fusion meant.?

For a bit of context, we first dove into Travella’s expansive background.?

“I was originally trained as a geologist, but I couldn’t resist the entrepreneurial calling and later pivoted. First, I built under the Rocket Internet umbrella in Asia Pacific where I helped scale e-commerce ventures, including Lazada which was acquired by Alibaba. I later ventured out on my own and founded Novicap, the operating system for working capital and a fintech success story in the making. All in all, it’s been a decade-long adventure that’s been, well, … muy loco!”

For those interested in a longer introduction: here you can find a recent podcast with Federico.

With such an interesting background, we wanted to pinpoint the meeting point for Travella and Ukio.

“My relationship with Ukio is a prime example of how investors can contribute more than just money when investing - connecting portfolio companies and enabling peer-to-peer learning among entrepreneurs is invaluable. Charles Lorenceau, a founding partner at the investment fund ACE & Co, originally connected me with Ukio’s founders when they were contemplating the idea to create a flexible housing brand. We enjoyed brainstorming together and it was a pleasure to witness the early idea morph into a real company with its roots planted in Barcelona.”

What we’ll call the “zero moment of truth” wasn’t precisely the “hook” for Federico. He was drawn to the idea from the start, but what really excited Travella goes deeper than flexible living itself. Travella speaks to the founders’ mindsets that he witnessed and how that sparked something for him.?

“Building and growing a company is a long and difficult adventure - It’s so easy to give up along the journey. Ukio launched when the Covid pandemic struck, arguably a tremendously challenging market timing for a proptech. However, I was impressed by the founders’ resilience and growth mindset - such grit indicates a deep passion for entrepreneurship and the category you’re innovating in.?

Personally, I’ve also experienced the problem firsthand over the last decade: I worked and lived in about 10 countries and couldn’t find a turnkey solution for flexible housing. Often, I ended up staying in soulless serviced apartments - I could only have wished for the solution Ukio has brought to market.”

What is a good business model with a satisfying solution? Ukio seeks to remedy a growing problem in the real estate market: midterm housing solutions that are move-in ready. We got the scoop for Travella to understand his perspective on the problem:?

“Ukio has a proven, strong dual value offering. On the demand side, guests can find a quality home wherever they go in a fully digital way. Finding flexible housing is a growing problem, further accelerated by trends such as remote work. On the supply side, landlords find a partner in Ukio that can manage their property end-to-end while optimizing yields.”

Next, we set our eyes on the future. Ukio has grown and grown in only a short time since its formation. We turn towards Travella to ask what he sees as the next major milestones for Ukio’s growth.?

“The Ukio team has already achieved so much: despite Covid-induced headwinds, the company found product-market fit and hit 10 million in revenue run rate, a milestone very few startups ever achieve. Everything indicates that Ukio is already a product that people love with a superior guest experience, leading to near-perfect occupancy rates with no marketing spend. Impressive, to say the least. The company has achieved escape velocity and now the question is rather how big it can become.”?

So how does this success compare to the startup landscape at large? As a big player in the fintech industry, Travella is well-versed in what makes start-ups sink or soar. Here, he shares:

“At an early stage, the team ranks above all else. It’s the founders’ experience combined with their learning agility, grit, and speed of execution, that allows for a quick liftoff. The original business idea and product often look different a few years later and that’s only possible because of the early team.

Once you have your team in place, you want to build an expansion machine - the processes you need to go really big. Ukio’s team most definitely ticks this box because it has unique experience executing a global expansion and localization strategy.

Market timing is important, too. You want to build a product or service that is addressing a real, large problem and for which customers want to actually pay. ”

Travella laid out a step-by-step guide for start-up success.? A dynamic team, scalability, and market timing are just a few nuggets of information he offers. As Ukio expands, we asked Travella where he’d like to see Ukio go next:

“This is most likely the hardest question - so many places where Ukio could bring their flexible housing model. If I had to pick just one and restrict myself to Europe, then I’d say London - a city that never disappoints and has a special place in my heart as I started Novicap there.”

As the alliance between Travella and Ukio continues, we await the continuation of wise words and “fin-prop” tech fusion.