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1. How the Belgian Fintech ecosystem helps Digital Finance companies to grow
Corentin Scarcez – Digital Finance Summit – November 2020
03-12-20

2. The curent state
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More than +40%* of the Fintech money is raised by Brussels companies in 2020.
In Brussels
27 MEUR368 MEUR
In Belgium
Total amount of funds raised by FinTechs in 2020 :
*Excluding the pre-IPO 47 MEUR and the IPO 250 MEUR from UnifiedPost
Source : L’Echo, Crunchbase, Dealroom, finance&invest.brussels

3. The rise of Brussels as a FinTech hub
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The reputation of Brussels is growing in Belgium and Europe
Source : Legal 500, Simon Braun, FinTech Belgium
Strategic location : heart of Europe
Stable European member >< Brexit
Talent pool : finance and technology
Test-market before international scaling : multi-cultural
and trilingual
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4. Marketing is nice, but have you thought about implementation?
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5. The rise of Brussels as a FinTech hub
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The regulator is one of the most efficient regulators in Europe, Fintechs say…
• “Pragmatic and tech-savvy profiles”
• “Personalized approach with ‘Contact Point for FinTech’ : contact and answer
queries in 3 business days and organization of intake meetings”
• “Open to innovation and disruptive business models”
• “Multi-lingual approach with French, Dutch and English that facilitates the
dialogue”
Source : Legal 500, Simon Braun, NBB

6. The FIRe Hub for Fintech, Insurtech, Regtech, Accountech, etc.
Hosting…
 EDFA – non-profit organisation
The European Digital Finance Association
 FinTech Belgium – non-profit organisation
The federation by and for FinTechs, InsurTechs
and RegTechs in BE
 And FinTech Belgium’s members
The rise of Brussels as a FinTech hub
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The community is growing and there is a need to increase support and visibility…

7. The rise of Brussels as a FinTech hub
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And finance&invest.brussels is growing as the ecosystem financial partner

8. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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First, we offer tailor-made financing solutions

9. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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Second, we focus our investment strategy on 5 pillars among which FinTech
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
Min 5%*
Max 30%*
*Du portefeuille

10. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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In 2019-2020, we have grown our portfolio with direct investments in category leaders
Fin & Insur Tech

11. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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But our strategy is also indirect through fund investments
By investing also in funds, we focus on three objectives :
• Strengthen our role as platform by extending our network outside of Brussels
• Learn and leverage the expertise from niche players
• Increase the liquidity in the market from seed phase to mature phase
2 MEUR in 2020 5 MEUR in 2019 2.5 MEUR in 2020

12. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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5 features that matter
• Ticket size : 100.000 to 5.000.000 EUR
• Financial instrument : Equity investment/Mezzanine debt/Convertible loans
+ proxi loan
• 5 investment themes, among which Fintech, supported by 2 strategies
• Maturity phase : 20% for startups – 80% for scaleups/PME (as % of EUR invest.)
• Public/private partnership : 10 private shareholders on 11, among which
experts in financial services

13. finance&invest.brussels : the FinTech Venture Fund
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Our brand new innovation to activate private savings
The Proxi loan
Visit : https://www.finance.brussels/proxi/

14. Takeaways
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I. The Belgian FinTech ecosystem is growing and is
building a good reputation. Let’s spread the word!
II. But this is not only about marketing, it is about
implementation with the right partner for the
regulation, the community and the finance
III. A public/private partnership is leveraging both
sides of the coin by offering the right financial
support and acting as a platform for the ecosystem

15. Thank you for your attention
03-12-20