Fume: The Venture Leader Fintech streamlining fund administration

04.11.2024 09:00, Rita Longobardi

Meet Riccardo Conti, CEO of Fume. The Fintech startup provides an on-chain fund management tool to automate the administration through smart contracts. In December, Riccardo and the other nine Swiss National Fintech Team members will fly to London on a business development and investor roadshow.

Name: Riccardo Conti
Location: Lugano, Switzerland
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: EPFL
Job title: Co-founder, CEO
Number of employees: 5
Money raised: USD 480'000
First touchpoint with Venturelab: Venture Kick

Riccardo Conti is the CEO of Fume, the on-chain fund administration platform. He is a computer science engineer who graduated from EPFL, turned fund manager. He Co-founded Cryptoro Capital, an Alternative Investment Fund in Luxembourg focused on digital assets. The direct pain of working in the fund industry led him to a new mission with Fume: to define a new generation of investment vehicles, where the use of blockchain settlements simplifies and automates the operations removing financial intermediaries.

Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
Fume helps fund managers by automating administrative tasks like subscriptions, redemptions, and fee calculations, cutting out financial intermediaries, and ensuring transparency, efficiency, and compliance.

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We are addressing the market of fund managers, starting with digital asset managers using stablecoins and other digital finance tools. This sector is growing rapidly. Our serviceable market of alternative investment funds has USD 22T of assets under management (AUM), with early adopters with USD 124B AUM digital asset fund space.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea for Fume arose from personal frustrations managing a digital asset fund, where inefficiencies and reliance on expensive intermediaries were commonplace.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow, and how will it help you achieve your vision?
I hope to deepen our understanding of the UK regulatory framework, meet fund managers to assess market needs, and establish partnerships with financial institutions.
 
What are your team’s key achievements to date?
We’ve developed a beta version of the product, secured USD 500k in funding, and have set up multiple on-chain funds for our clients.

What is the most challenging and rewarding aspect of being a founder?
The most challenging part of being a founder is the flexibility required: balancing the pressure to make the right decisions while continuously adapting to changes. The most rewarding aspect is also flexibility: having control over how you work, with the freedom to adjust plans and hours as needed.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
Perfection is the enemy of good. Since execution speed is the key factor in a startup, do the “thing” without wasting too much time.  

What is your favorite productivity hack/tool and why?
Calendar blockers. To avoid distractions pre/post meetings with colleagues, clients, and partners, it’s crucial to limit your own availability to fixed time slots. (e.g. no morning meetings.)

What was your dream job when you were a child?
As a child, I didn’t have a specific job in mind. I was simply drawn to anything that would allow me to travel the world and experience different cultures.