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A view through the AI fog

What a tech week in the Bay Area. I had the chance to attend both, Nvidia’s GTC and Andreessen Horowitz speedrun demo day. The Game Developers Conference was also in town.

AI is the future of intellectual property which is at the core of democracy and modern economy. Hence, AI sovereignty should not have a defensive touch, but it is key for each country and corporation that they have control over their AI capabilities they need and their data to be able to shape their future. Uljan Sharka, CEO and founder of igenius gave a great speech at GTC about it.

At speedrun, 41 impressive early stage ventures in the areas of gaming and other areas presented. And again, AI is the “game-changer” and disrupting entire industries with incredible speed. For the first time, a game from China was top ranked on the gaming distribution platform Steam. The other important factor became very clear again: the much higher early adoption of users and businesses in the US is a key competitive advantage. These early ventures get out of the gate much faster, with higher user and engagement numbers which again puts them into a position to improve their products much faster.

Being part of the steering committee for the WEF’s most recent fintech white paper

Having been part of the steering committee for the WEF’s most recent fintech white paper that examines the state of fintech globally was a great and insightful experience.

The fintech industry’s expansion over the last 10 years has been a powerful catalyst for innovation, inclusion and growth in the financial services sector and the wider economy. Fintechs have boosted competition by reducing lending spreads, increased inclusion by serving previously unbanked and underbanked consumers and small and medium enterprises and provided banks with new technologies and services. Venture capital has played a key role in enabling fintech innovation and has been an important driver of the industry’s development like in many other verticals.

However, many fintech companies across regions still struggle to find the funding they need to grow and scale their activities, in particular where they have to build a scalable balance sheet for e.g. lending services and fulfill regulatory debt-to-equity thresholds. Building balance sheets should come from a different source and type of capital. The white paper unveils some interesting stats and figures and opportunities for VCs. Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Middle East and North Africa collectively only received 10% of global fintech funding during 2020-23, yet are projected to generate 15% of global fintech revenue by 2028 underlining the capital efficiency of founders in those regions.

Below please see the full version of the WEF white paper published in September 2024.