CVC Unplugged: Self-driving money is the next step in fintech

Fintech companies have felt the change in the post-cheap money era. Rising interest rates have meant that, while balance sheets can drive revenue, anyone with a loan book has seen more defaults and segments like buy-now-pay-later services have seen their popularity drop. At the same time, technological advances are making personal wealth management easier and easier, and we’re not too far away from having our money work for us without needing too much of our input.

Hugo Bongers, partner at Motive Ventures, says giving people more control over their finances is a theme that the sector has been talking about for the last decade — but which is now becoming a reality as “self-driving money” is no longer a mere speck on the horizon.

Bongers, who by his own admission “lives and breathes” fintech, is looking at how best to invest in the new normal. Formerly the head of ABN Amro Ventures, he has a great overview of the space from both the corporate VC and financial VC sides.

He also has a view on the advances in the architecture of decentralised finance, which has been plugging along in the background even as Web3 and cryptocurrency investments have fallen largely flat since their peak in 2021, how regulatory changes will provide clarity on how DeFi can be overseen and supervised, and much more.