Fundamentals for FINTECH Startups: FinTech, Defy, SuperApps, & Aggregation: How these came together to power the correct FinTech revolution

Until recently finance and financial services were not a topic of popular conversation and were spheres of our economy reserved for the very wealthy and the highly educated. So why is it that Defy, financial services, and an endless number of novel financial products are appearing in every direction? Why is it that banking was such a closed-off industry but now we see new neoBanks launching by the dozen? In this talk we will explore the changes brought about by AI, aggregation, and big data which are fueling the wave of new startups in the fintech sector.

Gilad Berenstein is an Israeli born entrepreneur based in Seattle. Gilad began his entrepreneurial career early, while at the University of Washington he was involved in several startups including serving as the VP of Business Development at Watch2Help, a social cause marketing platform company. After college, Gilad was a Consultant at PwC prior to founding Utrip, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup that he led for 7 years as CEO. Gilad was honored by PhocusWright and named to their Class of 35 Under 35, was awarded Geekwire’s Seattle Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is a frequent Keynote speaker at major industry conferences. Throughout that time Gilad was also a board member and advisor to numerous companies including Vibby, Spree, and others.

After Utrip, Gilad spent a year as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) where he worked with the over 100 PHDs conducting breakthrough AI research. While at AI2, Gilad engaged with leaders from prominent businesses, venture funds, and academia learning from them and helping problem solve and innovate through the adoption of AI and personalization.

Today, Gilad leads Brook Bay Capital, a small fund doing early stage venture investing. In addition, Gilad serves on the Board of Directors of Virtuoso, the world’s preeminent luxury travel network, and several other businesses that focus on utilizing smart technology to delight customers. He is also a Board Director and Corporate Advisor to numerous technology startups and large ventures adopting AI or Personalization in the US, Israel, UK, Australia, and others. Gilad is proud to be a startup advisor and CEO mentor through a number of leading incubators and accelerators in the US and beyond.

Fundamentals for Startups is a weekly one-hour lecture series featuring notable experts who share startup-related information, experience, and insights with our entrepreneurial community. From raising capital to scaling to exit strategies, these seasoned guest speakers deliver valuable content designed to help startups and entrepreneurs thrive. Lectures are typically 30-40 mins, followed by open Q&A.
Each lecture is filmed, live streamed and archived on CoMotion’s Startup Training Videos page.

These lectures are open to the public and you do not have to be currently affiliated with the UW or a startup to join. Please register at the link below for access information.

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