Female Innovators Lab Expands in 'Hot' Fintech Space

entrepreneurs back with us as Amy no Yaka. She's co founder and CEO at the digital financial services investment firm Anthemis. She's also founder and CEO of media production company Archer Gray, also behind the launch of the Female Innovator's Lab, which is a collaboration between Anthemis and Barkley's. And she is on the phone in New York City. Um. Amy, great to have you back with us. How are you. I'm really well. Thank you so much for having me back.

It's good to talk to you guys. We talked to any Think back in November of I mean the pandemic. I've got to start with that. What's been the hacked on your world? VC investing? Give us some context and inside if you could. Yeah, well, it's I mean, it's been it's been crazy, right, I mean, it's for so many ways. And I think last time I was on, we talked a lot about kind of you know what what what some of the things that we might be kind of reckoning with kind of as as the world

starts to reopen and such. But I think that, look, the last couple of years of venture capital has been unbelievable. I think that the year, you know, from the pandemic, new year after it's it's been the biggest years venture capital I've ever seen. The entire industry is deploying capital like it's never has before. And the factor that Anthemis is focused on, specifically, fintech has been the hottest spector

known to known to a man, woman, and child. And and it's really interesting, right because we've been doing this um at Anthemis for almost you know, going on like a decade and a half now, and to find out for the first time that we're you know, the things that we've always thought important, right, investing in the service of trying to make change happen in the financial system, focusing on the route founders you know, investing for impact. All the things that really mattered to us have now

become kind of the de facto conversation. And you know, it's crazy that that we're getting as much attention, but also that the world is starting to finally pay attention that the things that are so important for systemic change. So in a lot of ways, I'm you know, I hate to say it, but I'm I'm feeling really bullish

on on where where um the world stands from my perspective. Well, you have dozens of companies that you've invested on, including companies like Carta and Better Meant Easy Health, Fluidity, Goji, Happy Money, and more. I'm I'm wondering if if there can ever be, in your opinion, too much venture capital funding out there, and and and the reason I ask is is it because you could be throwing good money after bad? Yeah? I think it's about is there too

much money? We're you know, we're kind of all dealing with this sort of capital wall that that's sort of upon us in the private equity space generally. But it's about whose money, you know, who whose hands is that money in? And you know, one of the trends that we've been watching really closely, and you guys have probably seen it since you dig into venture capitalists. What's been happening with a lot of these um, you know, kind

of mega rounds. I think there was around today where where one of the company's fanatics was a Series A at ten billion valuation, right, so, you know, being these kind of big investors like the Soft Banks of the world and the and the Tiger Gold was coming in and really just pumping up and getting founders excited about um the idea that they could be, you know, tomorrow a billion dollar company, and we're all out for building

really great, fantastic companies in it. As an investor, don't get me wrong, we love a unicorn as as well as the next. But the reality is, you know, particularly when you're deploying capital at the earliest stages you know, seried seed precede a B, even C, you need to focus on what's really you know, how how a venture company can really scale, and that's about building resiliency. Right.

If you're giving a founder a check, um, you know, with no product, no market, no customers, no launch, and you're saying, hey, here's a hundred million dollars and we're going to value you immediately it's at five hundred million, go off and do it. There's a lot of danger that that sort of know what are they going to do? How are they going to spend that money? Are they going to deploy it respectively? How quickly are they gonna hire people? How do you maintain a good culture, hire

the right people, hire for value, the alignment. It has got money burning a hole in your pocket. Still with us on the phone in New York City. Hey, Amy, you're talking about you know, fintech. Obviously that's your area where you guys are focusing on. Scott Minored. He's part of a story that is among our most right on the Bloomberg today. It's where Arsenal Bossk talked to a bunch of well known Wall Street names about the next

big risks for investors, and he is concerned. His number one risk is the sustainability of the global payment system. And he's also looking at, you know, concerns about hackers and so on. So far as we increasingly when it comes to our personal and you know, institutional financial world, increasingly we are digital and digitizing all of this. How do you think about that in terms of investing and

and kind of account for those worries those risks potentially. Yeah, I know, it's so incredibly important, and you know, as a the fintech investor, that's that's gonuld be something that that that we pay attention to all day, every day.

And I think one of the challenges um certainly that that we're seeing is, you know, in the hype of of all the you know, you asked earlier about how much money is coming to the sector, and you know, if that's going to places responsibly, I think you have to be really careful that that not only the companies you're backing understand how important it is to operate and

regulated markets and to focus on things like security. Because there's just so much money floating around that it gets to a point where people might just say, well, that will just be something I think about on the side, But this is the real deal, right, And when we're back a company, a lot of times you're starting with ideas that haven't yet fully formed themselves and so their

systems are not mature. But you've got to be conscious if you're gonna build a startup using technology and financial services, that it operates in an already you know sort of regulated and and and you know, it's the space I don't know. I mean, I guess I'm trying to try to to to to sort of think about some of the you know, big billion billion dollar companies that we've heard about that have made some you know, haven't really been so great about playing attention to how they're protecting

their customers and their consumers. And it does worry me, worry me very much. I mean, for people aren't familiar to just give us some examples of of instances like that. I mean, are you talking like established publicly traded companies already? I'm talking about the companies that are started by founders that have us certain attitude and ego and tubris about what they've created and how the companies that they've created, um you know, can help change the world, so to speak.

And that's great, We're all for that anthemis, but I think that there you've got to be careful that if those companies aren't paying attention to the way that you build a company inside of a very highly regulated financial system, and they don't have the experience, they aren't surrounding themselves as governors and advisors that can help support that um it can be really dangerous and could put consumers in a really difficult spot. How do you think you're invested

in stock twits? You know, we have talked so much about robin hood. We've talked about you know, the retail investor really taking the institutional investors and sophisticated investors UM, you know, for a ride, certainly this year. How do you think that continues to evolve and disrupt trading? Yeah,

I think you have to. I think as a as a venture capitalist, you have to look for UM founding teams that are authentic and who know what they're doing, but also who aren't afraid to take good guidance and advice UM, which is one of the ways an investor

can be really valuable. And if all you're looking for as a founder is the quickest way to get to a billion dollar valuation, by nature of the type of money you're getting or who you're getting it from, you're not likely to be paying attention to the stuff that are really going to create resiliency in a company and therefore security and safety in a company. Right, You're not

gonna be paying attention to the most important stuff. Evaluation is the only thing on your mind so you know, as investors, I think we we always say it starts with the founder. You know, who are we backing. Are they willing to take advice? Are they willing to hear difficult things? Are they willing to kind of go with the sort of e and flow of it not always being the way they want it to be? And that makes it big, makes a big difference in how resilient

a company gets. Hey, we gotta ask you. Got to ask you about each toorro because this is another this is another company and for people who aren't familiar with it, it's a competitor to Robin Hood. UM very popular outside of the United States, two million users in a hundred and forty countries. UM, give us the latest on you Toro, and you are investment in it, especially in the context of retail trading growing so much. Yeah, each Ur is

a company that we invested in very very early. UM. I think we were we were one of their first investors back in two thousands, gosh maybe twelve uh. And and I'm really really delitious on what that team has built and what they're doing. And and yes, they are, you know, similar to Robin Hood in so much that they are aligned along um supporting democratization and access to

the financial markets for the retail investor. But what Yawning and the team have built is a phenomenal back end um, highly secure, highly conscious of the market that it's it's it's sitting in and I think it's some you know, a company that we were quite proud to back early days, and we're really excited to see kind of where he goes from here. You're the real deal when it comes to it. Just talking about where you're going. Hey, talk to us about the expansion of the Female Innovator's Lab.

You've done this into the UK and Europe. Uh, what's going on? Tell us the demand and the and the fruits of the f hurts. It's super exciting. I mean, as you guys well know, you know, investing in diverse founders has done something we've done from the very beginning. But sometimes in doing so you run into kind of

snags that things just aren't happening fast enough. And that's precisely why we started the Female Innovator's Lab, is that two years ago we kept getting frustrated about all the sort of people saying, oh, there aren't enough women to invest in it's a pipeline issue, etcetera, etcetera, And none of it felt very honest to us. And so we said, all right, let's let's let's go ahead and figure out if this is really a problem, if there's a pipeline problem.

So we launched a very specific vehicle that invests exclusively in women in financial services, but very uniquely at the earliest stage of their company. So this is prec this is you know, come to us with an idea, We're gonna help you build it, We're gonna help you map it UM and then we're gonna help you get ready to launch it UM and and so we've had a lot of successes, seen over hundreds of companies UM in

the last two years. And last week we announced that we are moving from not just employing capital in the US market, but we're going to be deploying as well, doubling the size of the business in UM the UK and Europe. So it's it's great. We've we've had a lot of success with it UM, building out some really amazing company, finding some really great women UM and and you know, fifty percent of those women are also women

of color, which I think UM. You know, goes to the other points that people always say is that there just aren't enough women or people of color in the market to invest in. And I'm calling I'm calling the BS on that one. I love that you call the BS on that one. Do you stay in touch and come back and let us know how that growth of the lab, the Female Innovator's Lab, how it's going. And uh, some of the entrepreneurs that you're seeing. We love checking

in with you. Amy New Yorkus, she's good founder CEO of Anthemus Group on the phone in New York City,