EKMH Innovators Interview Series
An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
In the last few years Fermín Bueno has accomplished more than most have accomplished in their entire careers. As the Finnovista Co-Founder / Managing Partner and new Partner at Rainmaking, Bueno leads global teams and synthesizes their vision for innovation and disruption through active and deliberate collaboration.
A “modern nomad" who has lived and worked throughout Europe and the Americas (and who speaks Spanish, English, Swedish and German fluently), Bueno started his career as an Ericcson R&D Engineer in Stockholm developing hardware and 3G technologies that later triggered the mobile Internet revolution; in 2004 he launched and sold one of the first wireless internet network companies in Spain, disrupting telco incumbents business. He then became one of the founding employees of ZTE in Spain. After his MBA, Bueno co-founded three tech-startups including inVenture, an impact accelerator specialized in attracting high-tech global startups to Spain, and in 2012, Bueno co-founded the impact organization Finnovista.
The largest investor in Fintech & Insurtech startups in Mexico and Latin America (# of deals), with 45 investments to date (Jan 2020), Finnovista empowers Latin American and Spanish Fintech & Insurtech ecosystems through a collaborative platform that encompasses acceleration and scale-up programs, events, research projects, competitions and other innovation projects that foster startup-corporate collaboration.
With its Latin America and Spanish Fintech & Insurtech community of more than 20,000 active members, Finnovista aims to build bridges between the financial services industry and Fintech and Insurtech startups. Finnovista also invests, accelerates and helps scale Fintech & Insurtech startups in Latin America and Spain through a strategic alliance with Startupbootcamp, and in collaboration with leading financial institutions from across the region. In 2015, Finnovista became a part of the Rainmaking group.
In 2015 Bueno co-founded Startupbootcamp FinTech, an intensive acceleration program helping Latin American Fintech startups with hands-on mentorship from over 400+ industry experts, office space in the heart of Mexico City, seed funding, and access to a global network of Fintech industry investors and corporate partners. The program is supported by nine industry partners: Visa, Scotiabank, HSBC Mexico, Banregio, Ignia, Latinia, Fiinlab de Gentera, EY Mexico, and White & Case, and hundreds of expert mentors and investors. During the 2017-2020 period Startupbootcamp FinTech has invested in 30 startups in ten key Financial Services and Insurance innovation areas.
At this year's Startupbootcamp FinTech acceleration program in Mexico City, an initiative organized and run by Finnovista in Latin America, the third Demo Day batch celebrated 44 new strategic alliances. This batch also had the highest number of female founders, co-founders and team members, indicating further empowerment for women in the industry. Four out of the ten startups (Alfi, Inverkids, Vale Pay and Flotify) are headed by women, resulting in this generation having the largest female representation. (Bonus: EKMH Innovators had the opportunity to interview Startupbootcamp Scale Fintech MD & Finnovista Partnerships Director Christine Chang last year.)
In 2017 Bueno co-founded Startupbootcamp Scale, the leading Fintech growth program in Latin America, with the aim to help startups with a validated business model, on the verge of raising their Series A round, to overcome the scaling barriers inherent to these type of companies in the region. The program counts on the support of the same nine industry partners as Startupbootcamp FinTech: Visa, Scotiabank, HSBC, BanRegio, Gentera, Ignia, Latinia, EY and White & Case. During 2017-2020, Startupbootcamp Scale supported and invested in 14 startups across nine key innovation areas in the Financial Services and Insurance sectors.
As a new Rainmaking Partner for Spain and Latin America, Bueno helps the world’s most influential companies build and scale anew, working with a range of businesses — from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 corporates — helping to solve challenges across the dynamic landscape of innovation. Rainmaking has brought more than 850 new ventures to market, creating a portfolio worth more than $1B and has built 30 of its own ventures which have reportedly generated over €250M in revenues, raised over €50M in external venture capital, and had more than 70% of Rainmaking’s venture portfolio returning capital.
I recently had the pleasure to catch up with Bueno via email to learn more about his expertise and insight on a variety of topics including Fintech trends, leadership, collaboration and innovation. Our interview follows.
EKMH: 2020 has already been a busy year for Startupbootcamp FinTech. Startupbootcamp FinTech Mexico City, an initiative organized and run by Finnovista in Latin America, recently celebrated Demo Day. More than 200 key financial industry players and entrepreneurs participated in 10 Fintech startups in the third acceleration program. Please share your observations about the event.
Fermín Bueno: We are delighted to see how Startupbootcamp FinTech has become the best Fintech talent pool in Latin America. Events like Demo Day showcase the great value these startups create for the Latin American financial industry.
In the last Demo Day celebrated in Mexico City, the key players in the industry met the startups contributing to the rise of a more dynamic and inclusive sector. This batch’s projects have proven to be explorers and have created new market niches within these sectors, presenting innovative projects that only three years ago were still unthinkable.
EKMH: What Fintech trends do you see emerging?
Fermín Bueno: The future of Fintech is unwritten, but every year we keep seeing new trends emerging. More than a trend, the need for corporate-startup collaboration in the Fintech industry in order to create solutions the society is demanding is already a reality. In this sense, and particularly in Latin America, Fintech startups have become essential to financial inclusion and this collaboration between the key players of the industry and startups is giving people with limited access to financial services better solutions for their daily needs.
According to our partner Visa’s State of Innovation in Latin America report, 80% of Latin America’s most innovative companies are already using leading technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to make smarter decisions and design better solutions for the market.
We also see an important wave of Fintechs focusing on specific services for SMEs. Payments or lending solutions have a huge potential for new-age alternative lending providers to intrude into the system. Big banks and corporates are aware of how important it is for the future of SMEs to be helped in this sense and to offer them solutions to optimize their activities.
Finally, we also see how Insurtech solutions are emerging during the last year and a half, a sector that has been somewhat dormant in LATAM while in developed markets was booming. This is no longer the case: Insurtech startups in LATAM are finally bringing the much needed digital innovation and disruption to the insurance industry of the region, which nowadays only serves a small percentage of the population.
EKMH: How do you ensure successful collaborations between seasoned mentors and new industry leaders/innovators?
Fermín Bueno: Our program’s mentors give personalized guidance on overcoming the challenges new industry leaders or innovators face. We make sure all of our mentors can understand and even predict which challenges those are, whether because they have experienced themselves in previous entrepreneurial projects or because they have the industry expertise that until now was confined to the traditional financial institutions. The rest just flows as all parts of the association; Finnovista, our mentors and the new innovators pursue the same goal: to transform finance for the better.
EKMH: Please share your vision and plans for Rainmaking, the corporate innovation and venture development firm.
Fermín Bueno: Finnovista has been part of the Rainmaking group since 2015; this established partnership gives Finnovista more visibility and capability in innovation to lead worldwide markets. Finnovista has been helping transform the finance and insurance industries in LATAM and Spain since 2013, so we are certainly the pioneers of collaborative innovation in our market.
Rainmaking, the global leader of collaborative innovation, helps corporations solve big challenges by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship. As part of the Rainmaking group, we are the trusted innovation partner for some of the largest companies in the world to tackle big challenges and achieve impact at scale, by leveraging the ever-changing landscape of innovation and disruption. We are already impacting sectors like Transport, Digital Health, Energy, Financial services, and Insurance services.
In the coming months and years, we will focus on developing new projects and ventures that continue to transform financial and insurance, but also help transform new industries that are mature enough to embrace disruption and collaborative innovation in our market.
EKMH: How does a fear of a global recession affect/ignite/delay new initiatives and innovation in Latin America and Spain?
Fermín Bueno: In general, we are excited at Finnovista and Rainmaking about the upcoming times in the Latin American region. Technology, innovation and entrepreneurship are key to be ahead of the competition. Those companies that want to be leaders in their markets and drive the disruption in their sectors know that only investing in innovation will keep them growing and fueling their activities, even in recession times.
EKMH: What skills have you learned that help you effectively and enthusiastically lead teams in multiple cities and countries around the world?
Fermín Bueno: Undoubtedly, I would mention my ability to collaborate as the skill that has allowed me to effectively lead teams working remotely around the globe and in different time zones. Both at Rainmaking and Finnovista collaboration is the most relevant principle to be able to deliver the positive impact we aim to achieve. At the core of our work, we require a comprehensive collaboration between startups and corporates; during our years of experience we have developed proven methodologies that allow and support effective collaboration. This skill is part of all Finnovista and Rainmaking team members’ DNA.
EKMH: Startupbootcamp enjoys a stellar global reputation for its successful mentorship program that connects founders and industry leaders. What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs who lead and work on global teams? How have you learned to address differences across cultures?
Fermín Bueno: As I mentioned above, collaboration is essential. Have empathy, be human and speak with your people. That’s what we all have in common around the globe: we’re all people with feelings, problems, personal and professional goals… So I’d say: use empathy, put yourself in other people’s shoes and the rest will come by itself.
I must say we have the tremendous luck of having been gifted with the best talent. When looking for new team members, we look for skills that are shared by people in all geographies. The most relevant skill: their eagerness to make a positive impact on their societies.
EKMH: What are the not-so-secret-ingredients to building successful international teams and maintaining a healthy work/life balance?
Fermín Bueno: We believe every person at Finnovista and Rainmaking should have a healthy work-life balance and we encourage all of them to enjoy life as well as their work. In terms of the work they do, all team members have a learning journey via 1:1/MIR, training, sparring and mentorships. But life isn’t only about work and professional career; personal life is even more important. So we encourage flexible working hours, home-office when needed as well as promote a healthy lifestyle with family and friends time and sports.
EKMH: After your earned your MBA from IE, you pursued a Masters in Photography from EFTI. Please share more about your interest in photography and art. Are there any exhibits that shouldn’t be missed this season?
Fermín Bueno: I am engineer by education and I worked in exciting tech developments at the end of the ‘90s and beginning of ‘00s, such as programmable semiconductors, 3G mobile technologies and digital platforms, but I feel particularly excited by the intersection of technology, business and art/design. It is at that particular spot where the things that you create can truly make a difference.
In that sense, I do try to discover and explore what the art and photography scene is creating around the cities I spend most of my time in: Mexico City and Madrid. For example, we decorated our Finnovista LOFT in Mexico city with local muralists’ paintings to serve as an inspiration to change and transform the finance world and to encourage entrepreneurs and innovators that live with us at the LOFT to keep transforming Finance and Insurance for the better.
Regarding must-see exhibits, I really liked Chema Madoz’s exposition at the Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid. Chema Madoz has been continuously exploring the nature of things and is one of the best contemporary photographers in Spain today. Highly recommended.
Also I never miss PhotoEspaña, the international photography festival that happens every summer in Madrid.
EKMH: Favorite city to celebrate a partnership, launch or new deal?
Fermín Bueno: There are many but of course, I have a special connection with Mexico City because of its cool vibe, the vibrant entrepreneurship community and its openness to collaboration.
EKMH: Which book tops your “must-read” list?
Fermín Bueno: The Corporate Startup: How established companies can develop successful innovation ecosystems by Dr. Tendayi Viki. This is key reading for those who need a playbook by which they can start transforming organizations into innovation engines. This is one of the proven methodologies that Rainmaking and Finnovista use for building a culture of innovation internally and when we collaborate with the big players in several industries around the globe.
*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this series are those of the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
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