Green finance: a fringe endeavor or a big chance for fintechs? - Fintech Inn Lithuania

Green finance: a fringe endeavor or a big chance for fintechs?

Can fintech help tackle global sustainability challenges? Growing environmental concerns have presented the financial industry with significant opportunities to create positive change. Steeped in innovation and technical expertise, the fintech sector is uniquely positioned to generate solutions that address sustainability issues worldwide. 

One of the hottest topics in the world of finance, sustainability is also on the agenda of the virtual Fintech Inn 2021 conference. Held on 21-22 October 2021, the event will see many exciting panel discussions featuring fintech leaders and top industry experts. A panel titled “Empowering Green Finance: Big Chance for Fintechs?”, presented by ROCKIT, will tackle fintech’s potential for sustainable innovation. According to the panelists, green fintech can accelerate Europe’s transition to a low-carbon future, make green investments easier and faster, and bring environmentally-friendly solutions closer to consumers.

“The clear trend is that the majority of Europe’s sustainable finance companies work in data analytics. They help commercial banks and corporates to become more sustainable by using open data and other sources of information that can be found in the market,” explains Dominykas Stankevičius, Investment Associate at LaunchPad Capital and one of the participants of the panel discussion.

One of such companies is Doconomy, an impact-tech that develops digital tools for climate impact calculations. According to Tee Pruitt, Head of Partnerships at Doconomy and one of Fintech Inn’s panelists, innovative and progressive financial institutions hypothesize that sustainability is the new ‘digital’ – the biggest seismic change to hit finance globally in their lifetime.

“Sustainability is a huge vector for finance. The change is accelerated by the market draw around ESGs as well as consumer pressure. Also, the impending regulatory structures like the EU’s green regulation will force financial institutions to understand their exposures and do something about them. Financial firms have a dual mandate to get their own internal operations in shape while helping their existing clients and partners to be more sustainable as well,” Mr. Pruitt says.

While there is a lot of activity in sustainable finance in countries like Germany, the UK, France, and Sweden, with supply chain analytics, sustainable neobanking, and carbon accounting startups attracting significant funding, the green fintech scene in the Baltics is in its infancy stage.

“Funding for sustainable fintechs is now just starting to emerge, and what is holding us back is regulation,” says Rosvaldas Krušna, Chief Investment Services Supervision Specialist at the Bank of Lithuania. ”The taxonomy of green activities has not been fully adopted yet, so green investments are still a bit of a guessing game. As the regulation progresses, I believe that green investment is going to be as popular in Lithuania as in Western Europe,”

Regulatory clarity is among the key elements for companies and organisations to really engage with sustainability, but Akvilė Bosaitė, Partner and Co-Head of Banking & Finance Practice Group at COBALT Legal, notes that there are fintechs that pioneer sustainable business practices without regulatory pressure.

“Fintech companies strive to conquer their market share, so sustainability and compliance with ESGs are usually not on the top of their agenda. But there are plenty of examples in the market of fintechs that feel the need to be sustainable without regulation. Ongoing conversations and more green initiatives on the political level will force more financial companies to think of how they are meeting sustainability standards in reality, not just on paper,” believes Ms. Bosaitė.

Data shows that ‘sustainability’ already is among the top investment categories for newly launched VC funds. But to truly prosper, green fintechs should offer high risk-high reward investment opportunities, says Dominykas Stankevičius.

“I believe that the next big test for sustainable fintech is breaking into the retail investment market. But retail investors are usually attracted to the possibility of high yields in short periods of time. Just look at Bitcoin – it is a very volatile market, but volatility also makes investing in Bitcoin engaging. So green fintechs should provide retail investors with similar opportunities of high risk and high return,” Mr. Stankevičius explains.

Fintech can help companies to evaluate and reduce their environmental impact, and investors to channel their operations towards more sustainable assets. But according to the panel’s moderator Alex Gibb, Partner at Katalista Ventures, while there is a lot of positive movement in green fintech, sustainability in the sector is not a given.

“The footprint of fintechs is growing, and that is something that we need to address in order to hit longer-term sustainability targets,” he says. “Green fintech is not about just being sustainable for the sake of it, but more about solving problems and finding solutions for consumers and businesses that are working with technology.”

Join this and other discussions on the hottest fintech trends and challenges during the virtual Fintech Inn 2021 conference. Held on 21-22 October, Fintech Inn 2021 will bring together 250+ enterprises and start-ups, as well as 1000+ investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs and technology leaders from all over the world to exchange knowledge and discuss topics from green finance to startup media. You can get your free ticket to one of the largest industry events now on myOnvent platform.

 

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22 October | Main Stage | GMT +3 /
Time
Topic
Speakers
10.05-11.05
INVESTING IN CRYPTO / DIGITAL ASSET COMPANIES (VENTURE CAPITAL PERSPECTIVE)

Sumit Kishore (moderator), Head of Operations @ Consensys
Uldis Tēraudkalns, CEO @ Nexpay
Sang H Lee, Co-Founder and CEO @ VegaX and Konstellation

11.05-12.05
NEOBANKING’S NEXT TRICK: GETTING BIG, STAYING NIMBLE

Remco Veenenberg (moderator), Head of Partnerships @ Perfinal
Sarp Demiry, CEO @ European Merchant Bank
Mantvydas Štareika, CEO and Member of the Board @ SME Bank
Esther Groen, Advisor to the Board @ Holland FinTech
Andrius Bičeika, Deputy CEO and Member of the Management Board @ Revolut Bank

12.05-13.05
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: THE NEXT ERA OF FINTECH

Jarosław Sarwa (moderator), Community Partner @ FinTech Connector, Digital Leader @ QGroup
Jennifer Reynolds, President and CEO @ Toronto Finance International
Liudas Kanapienis, Co-Founder and CEO @ Ondato
Anton Zujev, Head of Business Development and Sales @ Forbis
Siri Børsum, Global VP Finance Vertical Eco-development & Partnerships @ Huawei Consumer Group

13.05-13.25
THE SUCCESS STORY BEHIND GROWTH OF LITHUANIA’S FINTECH ECOSYSTEM AND WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE ?

Liutauras Žilinskas, Investment Advisor for Technology @ Invest Lithuania

13.25-14.35
DIGITAL IDENTITY & DECENTRALISED IDENTITY: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Liudas Kanapienis (moderator), Co-Founder & CEO @ Ondato
Audrius Ramoška, Co-Founder and CEO @ Soverio
Kalev Pihl, CEO @ SK ID Solutions
Jon Ølnes, Product Manager Trust Services @ Signicat
Barbara Hałasek, Head of Regulatory Affairs @ Coinfirm

14.35-16.05
WORKSHOP: STARTUPS, PR AND THE MEDIA IN 2021

Mike Butcher, TechCrunch’s Editor-at-large
Julija (JJ) Jegorova (moderator), Founder and CEO @ Black Unicorn PR

16.05-16.15
CLOSING

Louis Zezeran, moderator

9.00-9.05
OPENING

Louis Zezeran, moderator

9.05-10.05
IS ALTERNATIVE FINANCING BECOMING MAINSTREAM FINANCING?

Mindaugas Mikalajūnas (moderator), CEO @ SME Finance
Tomas Mačiulaitis, CEO @ FinBee Verslui
Diego Perez, CEO @ the Fintech Association of Brazil – ABFintechs and Co-Founder @ SMU Investments

Michel Breeuwer, General Manager Benelux @ Mambu

21 October | Main Stage | GMT +3 /
Time
Topic
Speakers
10.25-11.30
EMPOWERING GREEN FINANCE. BIG CHANCE FOR FINTECHS?

Alex Gibb (moderator), Partner @ Katalista Ventures and Advisor @ Sumup
Dominykas Stankevičius, Investment Associate @ Launchpad Capital
Tee Pruitt, Head of Partnerships @ Doconomy
Akvilė Bosaitė, Partner and Co-Head of Banking & Finance Practice Group @ COBALT Legal
Rosvaldas Krušna, Chief Specialist @ the Bank of Lithuania

11.30-12.35
DATA PRIVACY vs. AML/KYC

Martynas Bieliūnas (moderator), Managing Partner @ Privacy Partners Group
Domantas Čiuldė, Co-Founder and CEO @ Idenfy
Faisal Islam, Head of FC/AML @ Sentinels.ai
Marios M. Skandalis, Director Compliance @ Bank of Cyprus
Taavi Tamkivi, Founder and CEO @ Salv

12.35-13.10
120M AUDIENCE – THAT FINTECH ECOSYSTEM HAS OVERLOOKED

Vaiva Amulė (moderator), Head of Fintech Hub LT
Sandra Golbreich, Co-Founder and CEO @ Baltic Sandbox

13.10-14.10
DeFi AND THE FUTURE OF FINANCE

Ash Costello (moderator), Member of Expert Panel @ EU Blockchain Observatory & Forum
Vytautas Karalevičius, Co-Founder @ Bankera and SpectroCoin
Vytautas Kašėta, Co-Founder & CIO @ SUPER HOW?
Chia Hock Lai, Co-Chairman @ Blockchain Association Singapore
Patryk Walaszczyk, Blockchain Consultant @ IBM

14.00-15.00
POWERING THE POTENTIAL OF PAYMENTS

Daumantas Dvilinskas, CEO & Co-Founder @ TransferGo
Marcilio Oliveira, COO & Co-Founder @ Sensedia
Marius Galdikas, CEO @ ConnectPay
Airidas Puodžiūnas, General Manager @ Contis

14.55-15.45
CYBER SECURITY: BEST PRACTICES TO OPTIMIZE INCIDENT HANDLING

Tomas Martinkėnas, Director of Security and Privacy @ Vinted
Mario Galatovic, VP Products & Alliances @ Ultimaco
Jessica Ramos, Head of Regulatory & Oversight Affairs @ EBA CLEARING
Marius Pareščius, Vice President @ Paysera

Tomas Beinaravičius (moderator), Senior Consultant @ Transcendent Group Baltics

15.45-17.00
FINTECH & AI: BREAKING DOWN FINANCE VERTICALS AND IN SEARCH FOR NEW HORIZONTALS

Jung Seok Kang, Founder and CEO @ AIZEN
Mariane ter Veen, Director, Lead Data Sharing @ Innopay
Dr. Yogesh Malhotra, Founding Chairman & CEO @ Global Risk Management Network

18.10
CLOSING

Louis Zezeran, moderator

9.00-9.10
OPENING

Louis Zezeran, moderator

9.00-9.15
WELCOME ADDRESS
9.15-10.25
MOVING FROM OPEN BANKING TO OPEN FINANCE. WHAT DOES THE FUTURE LOOK LIKE?

Ronalds Mesters, Co-Founder & CEO @ Nordigen
Aleksėjus Loskutovas, CEO @ NEO Finance
Gibson Nascimento, Head of Solutions EMEA @ Sensedia
Shaul David, Growth & Head of Banking @ Railsbank