Quick Intro: Startup Forum Speakers

We’re just over a month away now from our inaugural Startup Forum, taking place 22 September from 13:00-17:00 UK Time. At this free virtual event, our unbeatable lineup of speakers will explore everything you need to know to start, grow, and thrive in fintech. Want to know more about who’s speaking? Then check out our snapshot profiles below, sorted by panels…

Founding And Scaling Your First Fintech 

Olly Betts, Fintech MD, Founders Factory

Olly Betts is the Fintech MD at Founders Factory, a company builder for tech startups solving global challenges. He is responsible for building and investing in early-stage Fintech and Crypto startups.

Francesca Carlesi, CEO and Co-founder, Molo Mortgages

Francesca is the founder and CEO of Molo, a fintech start-up and the UK’s first fully digital mortgage lender. Before Molo, Francesca spent more than 15 years in the financial industry, working across a range of sectors.

Hiring, And Getting Hired 

Daniel Bowling, Head of Talent, Chip

Daniel has been in the tech industry for 16 years and has worked across a number of tech scale-ups. Daniel joined Chip three years ago and has helped Chip grow from a team of five to a team of 140 people, with 95% of all hires made directly. 

Katie Farquharson, Director, Storm2

As Director of the Engineering recruitment function at Storm2, Katie’s connects senior Engineers, CTOs and DevOps leaders to top FinTechs across Europe and the US. She leads a team of 16 in the Engineering vertical.

Paul McCalvey, Corporate Services Senior Sector Manager, North of Tyne Combined Authority

In his role as Corporate Services Senior Sector, Paul helps businesses in the finance, fintech, banking and business services locate, expand and thrive in the North East. Paul has spent most of his career in the IT services industry. 

Empowering Female Founders And Diverse Teams 

Ezechi Britton, Founding Member, Principal and CTO in Residence, Impact X Capital

Ezechi is the Co-founder and former CTO of Neyber, Co-founder of Code Untapped, and is currently a Principal and Founding Member of Impact X Capital, a £100m VC fund dedicated to funding under-represented entrepreneurs.

Nathalie Oestmann, COO, Outlier Ventures

Nathalie is COO at Outlier Ventures, managing the core accelerator business. Prior, Nathalie was Chief Operating Officer at Curve OS Ltd for 2.5 years. She was also GM and Head of Samsung Pay Europe at Samsung Electronics.

Raising Venture Capital, And What Investors Are Looking For

Ellen Logan, Investor, Augmentum Fintech

Ellen is an Investor at Augmentum. She previously worked at OC&C Strategy Consultants and at HR analytics startup Bunch, after having studied Economics at the University of Edinburgh.

Kirsty Grant, Chief Investment Officer, Seedrs

As Chief Investment Officer at Seedrs, Kirsty is responsible for the investment terms put in place at funding – shareholder agreements, subscription terms and other documentation for the deal. She was a corporate lawyer for eight years before joining Seedrs as Investment Director in 2015.

Now that you’ve been introduced to our stellar speakers, click here to register for our inaugural Startup Forum! We can’t wait to see you (virtually) in September. À bientôt!