Venture Leaders Fintech – Meet Florian Kübler of Switzerlend
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Florian Kübler is co-founder and CEO of Switzerlend AG, which operates the platform lend.ch. As leader of the Fintech Venture Leaders team, he will be reporting back for us on this week's whirlwind roadshow in New York - but first, let's learn more about his company.
Can you briefly tell us about your project?Lend.ch is the fastest-growing marketplace lending platform in Switzerland, cutting out the middleman to pass the cost benefits on to both lenders and borrowers. The company has transacted more than 1,000 loans and is now scaling into additional business areas.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities in fintech over the next five years?
In data science, non-conventional underwriting methods will revolutionise lending. Scalable marketplace lending platforms will benefit the most, as they already have great user experiences compared with traditional players.
In institutional business, owing to the low-interest environment, institutional lenders are forced to invest into private debt. We already have some institutionals on our platform and we expect many more to join.
What is pushing you towards international expansion?
The power of our IT lies in scalability. Only applying it in a contained market like Switzerland would be a waste.
What do you see as the greatest obstacle to expansion into the global market?
Regulation. Europe is a very fragmented market that makes scaling of our platform difficult. Having a Europe-wide passport solution would be very helpful
What attracts you to New York as a business development destination?
New York is THE financial centre where financial innovation happens first. Trends emerge from here, and it is important to spot them early and see if they are adoptable in Switzerland and Europe. Connecting with investors will be very interesting, to understand more how they think and what priorities they have.
What do you hope to achieve on the trip? What are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to networking with other Swiss startups, meeting US startups in p2p lending and connecting with US-based venture capitalists.
How is the Venture Leaders program beneficial for your startup?
The “final 10” headline already generated great publicity and the Venturelab network is highly beneficial for us to get ahead.
Follow the Venture Leaders Fintech roadshow on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #VLeadersFintech
Venture Leaders Fintech is co-organized by Venturelab and supported by digitalswitzerland, PostFinance, Walder Wyss, EPF Lausanne, ETH Zurich and University of Zurich.
