THE FinTECHPODCAST
Season 2 · Payments
All episodes

Season 1 · Episode 16 · The Fintech Founders

Liberis CEO, Rob Straathof

4 Mar 2021 · 44:54

Rob Straathof is CEO of Liberis, an alternative lender for SMEs, whose technology and data enable it to pre-approve businesses for loans.

Of all the fintech founders we’ve had on the show so far, Rob’s stints as a cheesemaker and alligator-dodging pilot probably qualify him as the one with the most varied stories. And though he may never have fulfilled his ambition to become an astronaut, keeping his feet on the ground has meant helping many small business owners keep a roof over their heads. Enjoy.

More from Season 1

S1 · Ep 4524 Dec 202133:13

Credit Kudos Founder & CEO, Freddy Kelly

When he got his first taste of startup life, in San Francisco, freshly-graduated Freddy Kelly did a few months at culinary school on the side. Little did he know that years later, his baking skills would help him blag his way into a conference by virtue of a chocolate cake he'd baked. He met Credit Kudos's first investor there, and his fintech - an open banking credit-reference company - was off to the races. It hasn't stopped running since.

S1 · Ep 4417 Dec 202133:21

Bankin' Co-Founder & CEO, Joan Burkovic

In its early days, banks tried to block Bankin’. Some set up call centres, warning customers of the danger of using the personal finance app, and encouraging them not to use it. On one occasion, they even called Joan, not realising that he was the fintech's co-founder. Nowadays, with open banking, it's a different story; banks, for the most part, are cooperative. And Bankin' is now blossoming into one of Europe’s leading consumer finance apps - with a potential B2B spinoff to boot.

S1 · Ep 4310 Dec 202132:17

Banxware Founder & Co-CEO, Miriam Wohlfarth

Some people thought launching a fintech during a pandemic was crazy. Then Banxware - a Germany-based, white-labelled SME lending platform - saw its banking partner, Wirecard, blow up. Since then, it's been relatively plain sailing!

S1 · Ep 4226 Nov 202136:09

Alpaca Co-Founder & CEO Yoshi Yokokawa

How Yoshi Yokokawa is enabling the world to have Robinhood-style access to financial markets and crypto, and why the Alpaca co-founder & CEO feels the furry camel cousin best symbolises this ambition.