上個(gè)節(jié)日期間,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人正以迅雷不及掩耳之勢(shì)向高歌猛進(jìn)的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)——尤其是熱門的金融科技領(lǐng)域——注入大量資金。今年,這股熱潮已經(jīng)結(jié)束。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人可能正為2023年更加艱難的融資環(huán)境做準(zhǔn)備,但他們表示,他們對(duì)金融科技的未來感到興奮,而且他們正發(fā)揮創(chuàng)造力。貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人克里斯蒂娜·梅拉斯-基里亞茲表示:“我覺得2021年金融科技領(lǐng)域成了投資者的天下,現(xiàn)在我認(rèn)為游客已經(jīng)(逃離)了。”
根據(jù)PitchBook的數(shù)據(jù),風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人在2021年向金融科技領(lǐng)域投入了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的872億美元,比2019年高出140%以上。隨著2022年宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境惡化,利率飆升,經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況搖搖欲墜,截至第三季度,金融科技初創(chuàng)公司的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人交易額已降至416億美元,比2021年下降了近38%。與此同時(shí),像Stripe的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手Checkout.com這樣的熱門初創(chuàng)公司,據(jù)報(bào)道最近將其內(nèi)部估值降至110億美元。Checkout.com在近一年前融資時(shí)估值達(dá)到400億美元。
至少在一段時(shí)間內(nèi),這種放緩可能會(huì)持續(xù)下去。谷歌母公司Alphabet旗下獨(dú)立增長(zhǎng)基金CapitalG公司的普通合伙人杰西·韋德勒表示,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人“看到長(zhǎng)期機(jī)會(huì)是正確的,但他們對(duì)一些金融科技公司的估值方式是錯(cuò)誤的”。韋德勒說:“盡管目前金融科技行業(yè)感覺很艱難……但隨著這些商業(yè)模式的發(fā)展,仍有非常多機(jī)會(huì),可能會(huì)讓大多數(shù)軟件相形見絀。”
2023年最大的金融科技投資
《財(cái)富》雜志詢問了8位風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人對(duì)2023年金融科技主要趨勢(shì)的預(yù)測(cè),包括哪種類型的金融科技初創(chuàng)公司將在明年“流行”,以及人工智能何時(shí)開始自動(dòng)執(zhí)行各種金融科技功能。
克里斯蒂娜·梅拉斯-基里亞茲和莎拉·欣克弗斯,貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人
如果你問貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司的莎拉·欣克弗斯,有一個(gè)“完全被忽視的”領(lǐng)域,那就是商業(yè)保險(xiǎn)。雖然當(dāng)你想到金融科技時(shí),你可能不會(huì)想到它,但欣克弗斯預(yù)測(cè),對(duì)于像她這樣的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人來說,這個(gè)領(lǐng)域?qū)?huì)越來越有趣。
“如果你的公司不再運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)了,你不能停止支付的東西就是保險(xiǎn)單,因?yàn)橐坏┩V怪Ц叮憔筒辉偈且患夜玖恕!毙揽烁ニ拐f,商業(yè)保險(xiǎn)“一直是有吸引力的領(lǐng)域”。她說,我們看到了“在考慮購(gòu)買時(shí)提供保險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品方面的偉大創(chuàng)新,特別是從嵌入式金融的角度考慮這一點(diǎn)。用戶信任的平臺(tái)如何提供金融產(chǎn)品,包括在商業(yè)領(lǐng)域?”
與此同時(shí),欣克弗斯的同事梅拉斯-基里亞茲預(yù)測(cè),能夠讓首席財(cái)務(wù)官“由于正在發(fā)生的變化,以更高的準(zhǔn)確性和更少的人力完成工作的工具將會(huì)流行起來。”其中之一是“商業(yè)模式正在發(fā)生變化,因此有更多基于使用的商業(yè)模式出現(xiàn)。要知道你在任何時(shí)間點(diǎn)的收入和支出情況將變得越來越復(fù)雜,你正面臨來自市場(chǎng)的下行壓力。”也許你需要裁員;你需要削減成本。因此,與過去幾年相比,幫助首席財(cái)務(wù)官們做到這一點(diǎn)的工具將擁有更多優(yōu)勢(shì)。”
阿米特·庫馬爾,Accel公司合伙人
對(duì)許多金融科技公司來說,比如新銀行(比如Current或Chime)的趨勢(shì)似乎是從小眾受眾轉(zhuǎn)向迎合更多普通客戶。以Current為例,它最初的受眾是青少年,旨在成為兒童借記卡發(fā)行中心,但后來擴(kuò)展到為稍長(zhǎng)人群提供各種服務(wù)(包括最近的加密貨幣交易)。
但Accel公司合伙人阿米特·庫馬爾預(yù)測(cè),相比之下,“能夠?yàn)槟懔可矶ㄖ聘嘟鹑诋a(chǎn)品絕對(duì)是未來的發(fā)展方向”。
他說:“如果你能為作為消費(fèi)者的我或作為企業(yè)的我量身定制金融產(chǎn)品,我認(rèn)為你可以由此擴(kuò)大業(yè)務(wù)。”庫馬爾指出,他投資組合中的一家公司Coast就是典型的例子,這家公司為商用車隊(duì)開發(fā)支付軟件。他認(rèn)為,這類用戶或公司的需求在歷史上從未被滿足過,但卻擁有“可觀”的支付量。
他認(rèn)為,結(jié)果是“你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),越來越多的美國(guó)人將通過與他們關(guān)系更密切的平臺(tái)來獲得金融產(chǎn)品:如果你是一名建筑工人或一家建筑公司,你可能會(huì)在使用的建筑軟件中嵌入金融產(chǎn)品,這真的很明智。”
查爾斯·伯恩鮑姆,柏尚風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人
柏尚風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人查爾斯·伯恩鮑姆并不像其他投資者那樣,對(duì)那些業(yè)務(wù)模式側(cè)重于放貸的金融科技公司(特別是資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表貸款,即債務(wù)保留在貸款人的賬上)持謹(jǐn)慎態(tài)度。然而,他預(yù)測(cè),提供貸款服務(wù)的初創(chuàng)公司將“在發(fā)展方面更加小心謹(jǐn)慎,并更加關(guān)注業(yè)務(wù)的邊際收益——在你考慮到所有的欺詐、所有的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和明顯上升的資本成本之后。”
事實(shí)上,伯恩鮑姆預(yù)測(cè),“你將看到更多消費(fèi)金融科技公司被迫進(jìn)入無擔(dān)保消費(fèi)貸款領(lǐng)域,盡管面臨宏觀逆風(fēng),而且……它們將更謹(jǐn)慎行事。”
他還認(rèn)為,我們將在消費(fèi)者和B2B(企業(yè)對(duì)企業(yè))方面看到金融科技領(lǐng)域的大量整合,特別是在2023年下半年。“在消費(fèi)金融科技方面,很多商業(yè)模式的利潤(rùn)率都很低,我認(rèn)為,隨著人們需要再次籌集資金,(以及)隨著23年底和24年初的跑道縮短,這一領(lǐng)域?qū)?huì)出現(xiàn)大量整合。”無論是“現(xiàn)有公司收購(gòu)這些公司,還是公司合并提供互補(bǔ)產(chǎn)品,我認(rèn)為你會(huì)看到這兩種情況,尤其是在消費(fèi)者方面。”
另一大預(yù)測(cè)?新銀行和其他金融科技公司在其平臺(tái)上推出加密貨幣交易的趨勢(shì)在未來一年可能會(huì)消退。伯恩鮑姆說:“我認(rèn)為人們不會(huì)放棄向客戶提供這種服務(wù)。”但對(duì)于那些“還沒有將這項(xiàng)服務(wù)列在路線圖上”的初創(chuàng)公司來說,他們可能不會(huì)在2023年添加這項(xiàng)服務(wù)。
杰西·韋德勒,CapitalG公司普通合伙人,以及蘇米·達(dá)斯,CapitalG公司合伙人
CapitalG公司合伙人蘇米·達(dá)斯在談到預(yù)測(cè)時(shí),并沒有從小處著眼:“我認(rèn)為金融科技公司的定義將發(fā)生巨大變化。”他認(rèn)為,“舊的”思維方式是,“好吧,你向客戶提供銀行服務(wù)。那么你就是一家金融科技公司。”金融科技公司的新定義可能與金融科技完全無關(guān):“我正在建立一個(gè)連接買家和賣家的B2B市場(chǎng),作為這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的一部分,我將融資嵌入到這個(gè)平臺(tái)中,或者我正為利基市場(chǎng)建立一家垂直軟件公司,然后我將添加金融服務(wù),就像Toast一樣。”他指著餐廳銷售點(diǎn)和管理系統(tǒng)提供商Toast說。他認(rèn)為,這類新興金融科技公司將是“最具價(jià)值的”。
與此同時(shí),他的同事韋德勒預(yù)計(jì),消費(fèi)者金融科技——那些瞄準(zhǔn)消費(fèi)者和他們的資金的初創(chuàng)公司(比如信用卡或新銀行)——將在2023年受到“挑戰(zhàn)”。他預(yù)測(cè),在未來12個(gè)月里,更受風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人歡迎的將是“更安全的商業(yè)模式”,比如向銀行和其他金融服務(wù)提供商出售軟件。“這是一種非常容易理解的軟件類型商業(yè)模式,通常風(fēng)險(xiǎn)較低,成本也較低。”
韋德勒還預(yù)計(jì),盡管整體估值下滑,但優(yōu)質(zhì)(或他所說的“高于平均水平”)公司仍將獲得更多融資,包括金融科技領(lǐng)域的公司。“這些公司的估值不會(huì)有吸引力,因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都渴望”投資這些公司。
勞拉·博克,QED公司合伙人
QED公司合伙人、專注于美國(guó)金融科技的勞拉·博克表示,在未來6到9個(gè)月內(nèi),創(chuàng)始人不應(yīng)指望融資環(huán)境會(huì)有很大改善,這一警告目前在某種程度上獲得了大多數(shù)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人的認(rèn)同。
但博克表示,除了籌集資金更加棘手之外,她和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)還受到了來自以色列的科技創(chuàng)新的“啟發(fā)”。她預(yù)測(cè),“我們將看到更多的金融科技優(yōu)勝者追隨Payoneer、Melio和Next的腳步在這一地區(qū)崛起。”在以色列以外,博克預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)有更多的B2B金融科技公司出現(xiàn),為“尋求自動(dòng)化和智能化以優(yōu)化運(yùn)營(yíng)的中小型企業(yè)提供后臺(tái)‘簡(jiǎn)易按鈕’。”她認(rèn)為,將會(huì)有“更多的垂直解決方案滲透到大型傳統(tǒng)行業(yè)”,比如醫(yī)療保健、物流、建筑和房地產(chǎn)等,“隨著這些企業(yè)尋求提高貨幣化和參與度,將會(huì)出現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代化工具。”
格蕾絲·伊斯福德,拉克斯資本合伙人
近幾個(gè)月來,人工智能越來越成為風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人圈內(nèi)外的話題,似乎從推特用戶到頂級(jí)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人都在不停地談?wù)撍@怂官Y本合伙人格蕾絲·伊斯福德也不例外。
她預(yù)測(cè),“在2023年,我們將看到大型語言模型滲透到金融科技領(lǐng)域。”伊斯福德指出:“在現(xiàn)有(機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)和人工智能)應(yīng)用的基礎(chǔ)上,金融科技公司將利用大型語言模型來處理索賠,并確定索賠優(yōu)先級(jí),協(xié)調(diào)工作流程,改善銀行服務(wù),并加強(qiáng)支付和承保的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)管理,這將成為金融科技公司的入場(chǎng)籌碼。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
從左上起按順時(shí)針方向:貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司(Bain Capital Ventures)合伙人克里斯蒂娜·梅拉斯-基里亞茲(Christina Melas-Kyriazi); 貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人莎拉·欣克弗斯(Sarah Hinkfuss);Accel公司合伙人阿米特·庫馬爾(Amit Kumar); 柏尚風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司(Bessemer Venture Partners)合伙人查爾斯·伯恩鮑姆(Charles Birnbaum);CapitalG公司普通合伙人杰西·韋德勒(Jesse Wedler);CapitalG公司合伙人蘇米·達(dá)斯(Sumi Das);QED公司合伙人勞拉·博克(Laura Bock);以及拉克斯資本(Lux Capital)合伙人格蕾絲·伊斯福德(Grace Isford)。
上個(gè)節(jié)日期間,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人正以迅雷不及掩耳之勢(shì)向高歌猛進(jìn)的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)——尤其是熱門的金融科技領(lǐng)域——注入大量資金。今年,這股熱潮已經(jīng)結(jié)束。風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人可能正為2023年更加艱難的融資環(huán)境做準(zhǔn)備,但他們表示,他們對(duì)金融科技的未來感到興奮,而且他們正發(fā)揮創(chuàng)造力。貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人克里斯蒂娜·梅拉斯-基里亞茲表示:“我覺得2021年金融科技領(lǐng)域成了投資者的天下,現(xiàn)在我認(rèn)為游客已經(jīng)(逃離)了。”
根據(jù)PitchBook的數(shù)據(jù),風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人在2021年向金融科技領(lǐng)域投入了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的872億美元,比2019年高出140%以上。隨著2022年宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境惡化,利率飆升,經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況搖搖欲墜,截至第三季度,金融科技初創(chuàng)公司的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人交易額已降至416億美元,比2021年下降了近38%。與此同時(shí),像Stripe的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手Checkout.com這樣的熱門初創(chuàng)公司,據(jù)報(bào)道最近將其內(nèi)部估值降至110億美元。Checkout.com在近一年前融資時(shí)估值達(dá)到400億美元。
至少在一段時(shí)間內(nèi),這種放緩可能會(huì)持續(xù)下去。谷歌母公司Alphabet旗下獨(dú)立增長(zhǎng)基金CapitalG公司的普通合伙人杰西·韋德勒表示,風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人“看到長(zhǎng)期機(jī)會(huì)是正確的,但他們對(duì)一些金融科技公司的估值方式是錯(cuò)誤的”。韋德勒說:“盡管目前金融科技行業(yè)感覺很艱難……但隨著這些商業(yè)模式的發(fā)展,仍有非常多機(jī)會(huì),可能會(huì)讓大多數(shù)軟件相形見絀。”
2023年最大的金融科技投資
《財(cái)富》雜志詢問了8位風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人對(duì)2023年金融科技主要趨勢(shì)的預(yù)測(cè),包括哪種類型的金融科技初創(chuàng)公司將在明年“流行”,以及人工智能何時(shí)開始自動(dòng)執(zhí)行各種金融科技功能。
克里斯蒂娜·梅拉斯-基里亞茲和莎拉·欣克弗斯,貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人
如果你問貝恩資本風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司的莎拉·欣克弗斯,有一個(gè)“完全被忽視的”領(lǐng)域,那就是商業(yè)保險(xiǎn)。雖然當(dāng)你想到金融科技時(shí),你可能不會(huì)想到它,但欣克弗斯預(yù)測(cè),對(duì)于像她這樣的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人來說,這個(gè)領(lǐng)域?qū)?huì)越來越有趣。
“如果你的公司不再運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)了,你不能停止支付的東西就是保險(xiǎn)單,因?yàn)橐坏┩V怪Ц叮憔筒辉偈且患夜玖恕!毙揽烁ニ拐f,商業(yè)保險(xiǎn)“一直是有吸引力的領(lǐng)域”。她說,我們看到了“在考慮購(gòu)買時(shí)提供保險(xiǎn)產(chǎn)品方面的偉大創(chuàng)新,特別是從嵌入式金融的角度考慮這一點(diǎn)。用戶信任的平臺(tái)如何提供金融產(chǎn)品,包括在商業(yè)領(lǐng)域?”
與此同時(shí),欣克弗斯的同事梅拉斯-基里亞茲預(yù)測(cè),能夠讓首席財(cái)務(wù)官“由于正在發(fā)生的變化,以更高的準(zhǔn)確性和更少的人力完成工作的工具將會(huì)流行起來。”其中之一是“商業(yè)模式正在發(fā)生變化,因此有更多基于使用的商業(yè)模式出現(xiàn)。要知道你在任何時(shí)間點(diǎn)的收入和支出情況將變得越來越復(fù)雜,你正面臨來自市場(chǎng)的下行壓力。”也許你需要裁員;你需要削減成本。因此,與過去幾年相比,幫助首席財(cái)務(wù)官們做到這一點(diǎn)的工具將擁有更多優(yōu)勢(shì)。”
阿米特·庫馬爾,Accel公司合伙人
對(duì)許多金融科技公司來說,比如新銀行(比如Current或Chime)的趨勢(shì)似乎是從小眾受眾轉(zhuǎn)向迎合更多普通客戶。以Current為例,它最初的受眾是青少年,旨在成為兒童借記卡發(fā)行中心,但后來擴(kuò)展到為稍長(zhǎng)人群提供各種服務(wù)(包括最近的加密貨幣交易)。
但Accel公司合伙人阿米特·庫馬爾預(yù)測(cè),相比之下,“能夠?yàn)槟懔可矶ㄖ聘嘟鹑诋a(chǎn)品絕對(duì)是未來的發(fā)展方向”。
他說:“如果你能為作為消費(fèi)者的我或作為企業(yè)的我量身定制金融產(chǎn)品,我認(rèn)為你可以由此擴(kuò)大業(yè)務(wù)。”庫馬爾指出,他投資組合中的一家公司Coast就是典型的例子,這家公司為商用車隊(duì)開發(fā)支付軟件。他認(rèn)為,這類用戶或公司的需求在歷史上從未被滿足過,但卻擁有“可觀”的支付量。
他認(rèn)為,結(jié)果是“你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn),越來越多的美國(guó)人將通過與他們關(guān)系更密切的平臺(tái)來獲得金融產(chǎn)品:如果你是一名建筑工人或一家建筑公司,你可能會(huì)在使用的建筑軟件中嵌入金融產(chǎn)品,這真的很明智。”
查爾斯·伯恩鮑姆,柏尚風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人
柏尚風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司合伙人查爾斯·伯恩鮑姆并不像其他投資者那樣,對(duì)那些業(yè)務(wù)模式側(cè)重于放貸的金融科技公司(特別是資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表貸款,即債務(wù)保留在貸款人的賬上)持謹(jǐn)慎態(tài)度。然而,他預(yù)測(cè),提供貸款服務(wù)的初創(chuàng)公司將“在發(fā)展方面更加小心謹(jǐn)慎,并更加關(guān)注業(yè)務(wù)的邊際收益——在你考慮到所有的欺詐、所有的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和明顯上升的資本成本之后。”
事實(shí)上,伯恩鮑姆預(yù)測(cè),“你將看到更多消費(fèi)金融科技公司被迫進(jìn)入無擔(dān)保消費(fèi)貸款領(lǐng)域,盡管面臨宏觀逆風(fēng),而且……它們將更謹(jǐn)慎行事。”
他還認(rèn)為,我們將在消費(fèi)者和B2B(企業(yè)對(duì)企業(yè))方面看到金融科技領(lǐng)域的大量整合,特別是在2023年下半年。“在消費(fèi)金融科技方面,很多商業(yè)模式的利潤(rùn)率都很低,我認(rèn)為,隨著人們需要再次籌集資金,(以及)隨著23年底和24年初的跑道縮短,這一領(lǐng)域?qū)?huì)出現(xiàn)大量整合。”無論是“現(xiàn)有公司收購(gòu)這些公司,還是公司合并提供互補(bǔ)產(chǎn)品,我認(rèn)為你會(huì)看到這兩種情況,尤其是在消費(fèi)者方面。”
另一大預(yù)測(cè)?新銀行和其他金融科技公司在其平臺(tái)上推出加密貨幣交易的趨勢(shì)在未來一年可能會(huì)消退。伯恩鮑姆說:“我認(rèn)為人們不會(huì)放棄向客戶提供這種服務(wù)。”但對(duì)于那些“還沒有將這項(xiàng)服務(wù)列在路線圖上”的初創(chuàng)公司來說,他們可能不會(huì)在2023年添加這項(xiàng)服務(wù)。
杰西·韋德勒,CapitalG公司普通合伙人,以及蘇米·達(dá)斯,CapitalG公司合伙人
CapitalG公司合伙人蘇米·達(dá)斯在談到預(yù)測(cè)時(shí),并沒有從小處著眼:“我認(rèn)為金融科技公司的定義將發(fā)生巨大變化。”他認(rèn)為,“舊的”思維方式是,“好吧,你向客戶提供銀行服務(wù)。那么你就是一家金融科技公司。”金融科技公司的新定義可能與金融科技完全無關(guān):“我正在建立一個(gè)連接買家和賣家的B2B市場(chǎng),作為這個(gè)市場(chǎng)的一部分,我將融資嵌入到這個(gè)平臺(tái)中,或者我正為利基市場(chǎng)建立一家垂直軟件公司,然后我將添加金融服務(wù),就像Toast一樣。”他指著餐廳銷售點(diǎn)和管理系統(tǒng)提供商Toast說。他認(rèn)為,這類新興金融科技公司將是“最具價(jià)值的”。
與此同時(shí),他的同事韋德勒預(yù)計(jì),消費(fèi)者金融科技——那些瞄準(zhǔn)消費(fèi)者和他們的資金的初創(chuàng)公司(比如信用卡或新銀行)——將在2023年受到“挑戰(zhàn)”。他預(yù)測(cè),在未來12個(gè)月里,更受風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人歡迎的將是“更安全的商業(yè)模式”,比如向銀行和其他金融服務(wù)提供商出售軟件。“這是一種非常容易理解的軟件類型商業(yè)模式,通常風(fēng)險(xiǎn)較低,成本也較低。”
韋德勒還預(yù)計(jì),盡管整體估值下滑,但優(yōu)質(zhì)(或他所說的“高于平均水平”)公司仍將獲得更多融資,包括金融科技領(lǐng)域的公司。“這些公司的估值不會(huì)有吸引力,因?yàn)槊總€(gè)人都渴望”投資這些公司。
勞拉·博克,QED公司合伙人
QED公司合伙人、專注于美國(guó)金融科技的勞拉·博克表示,在未來6到9個(gè)月內(nèi),創(chuàng)始人不應(yīng)指望融資環(huán)境會(huì)有很大改善,這一警告目前在某種程度上獲得了大多數(shù)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人的認(rèn)同。
但博克表示,除了籌集資金更加棘手之外,她和她的團(tuán)隊(duì)還受到了來自以色列的科技創(chuàng)新的“啟發(fā)”。她預(yù)測(cè),“我們將看到更多的金融科技優(yōu)勝者追隨Payoneer、Melio和Next的腳步在這一地區(qū)崛起。”在以色列以外,博克預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)有更多的B2B金融科技公司出現(xiàn),為“尋求自動(dòng)化和智能化以優(yōu)化運(yùn)營(yíng)的中小型企業(yè)提供后臺(tái)‘簡(jiǎn)易按鈕’。”她認(rèn)為,將會(huì)有“更多的垂直解決方案滲透到大型傳統(tǒng)行業(yè)”,比如醫(yī)療保健、物流、建筑和房地產(chǎn)等,“隨著這些企業(yè)尋求提高貨幣化和參與度,將會(huì)出現(xiàn)現(xiàn)代化工具。”
格蕾絲·伊斯福德,拉克斯資本合伙人
近幾個(gè)月來,人工智能越來越成為風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人圈內(nèi)外的話題,似乎從推特用戶到頂級(jí)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人都在不停地談?wù)撍@怂官Y本合伙人格蕾絲·伊斯福德也不例外。
她預(yù)測(cè),“在2023年,我們將看到大型語言模型滲透到金融科技領(lǐng)域。”伊斯福德指出:“在現(xiàn)有(機(jī)器學(xué)習(xí)和人工智能)應(yīng)用的基礎(chǔ)上,金融科技公司將利用大型語言模型來處理索賠,并確定索賠優(yōu)先級(jí),協(xié)調(diào)工作流程,改善銀行服務(wù),并加強(qiáng)支付和承保的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)管理,這將成為金融科技公司的入場(chǎng)籌碼。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
Clockwise from top left: Christina Melas-Kyriazi, partner at Bain Capital Ventures; Sarah Hinkfuss, partner at Bain Capital Ventures; Amit Kumar, partner at Accel; Charles Birnbaum of Bessemer Venture Partners; Jesse Wedler, general partner at CapitalG; Sumi Das, partner at CapitalG; Laura Bock, partner at QED; and Grace Isford, partner at Lux Capital.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF BAIN CAPITAL VENTURES, ACCEL, BESSEMER VENTURE PARTNERS, CAPITALG, LUX CAPITAL
Last holiday season, venture investors were pouring cash into high-flying startups—in particular, the hot fintech space—at a rapid pace. This year, the boom is over. VCs may be steeling themselves for a rockier funding environment in 2023, but they say they’re excited for what’s to come for fintech—and they’re getting creative. “I felt like fintech became so overrun, almost, with investors in 2021, and now I think the tourists have [fled],” says Christina Melas-Kyriazi, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures.
VCs plowed a record $87.2 billion into fintech in 2021, over 140% higher than 2019, per PitchBook data. As the macroeconomic environment has soured in 2022, with interest rates skyrocketing and the economy teetering, VC deal value for fintech startups has fallen to $41.6 billion through the third quarter, down nearly 38% from 2021, per PitchBook. Meanwhile hot startups like Stripe competitor Checkout.com, which raised at a $40 billion valuation nearly a year ago, reportedly recently slashed its internal valuation to $11 billion.
The slowdown will likely stick, at least for a while. VCs were “right in seeing the long-term opportunity, but wrong in terms of how they valued” some fintech companies, says Jesse Wedler, a general partner at Google parent Alphabet’s independent growth fund, CapitalG. “Even though it feels tough in fintech right now…the opportunity is so large and could dwarf most of software as these business models figure it out,” says Wedler.
Top fintech investments for 2023
Fortune asked eight venture investors for their top predictions for fintech in 2023—which run the gamut from which type of fintech startup will be “in vogue” next year to when A.I. could start automating all sorts of fintech functions.
Christina Melas-Kyriazi and Sarah Hinkfuss, partners, Bain Capital Ventures
If you ask BCV’s Sarah Hinkfuss, one area that is “totally under the radar” is commercial insurance. While it may not be what you think of when you think fintech, Hinkfuss predicts the space will be increasingly interesting for VCs like her.
“If your company is not working, the thing that you can’t stop paying is your insurance policy, because once you stop paying that you cease to become a company.” Commercial insurance has “always been” a “fascinating space,” says Hinkfuss. She says we’re seeing “really great innovation in delivering the insurance product at the time of consideration of purchase, and in particular, thinking about it from an embedded finance angle,” she says. “How can financial products be served up by the platforms that are trusted by users, including in the commercial space?”
Hinkfuss’s colleague Melas-Kyriazi, meanwhile, predicts tools that enable CFOs to be able to do their job “with higher accuracy and with less people are going to be in vogue, because there’s a few things happening,” one of which is “business models are changing, so there’s more usage-based business models and it’s getting more complex to know what your revenue and expenses are at any point in time, and you’re facing downward pressure from the market. Maybe you need to cut headcount; you need to cut costs. So tools that help CFOs do that are going to…h(huán)ave even more tailwinds than they already have over the last few years.”
Amit Kumar, partner, Accel
The trend for many fintechs like neobanks (think Current or Chime) seems to be going from a niche audience to catering to more general clientele. Take Current, which initially targeted teenagers with the aim of being a children’s debit card but has since expanded into offering a wide variety of services for a slightly older crowd (including, recently, crypto trading).
But Amit Kumar, a partner at Accel, predicts that in contrast, “people being able to build more tailored financial products to you” is “100% where the future is headed.”
“If you can build tailored financial products for me as a consumer, or me as a business,” he says, “I think there’s a lot you can do with it.” Kumar points to one of his portfolio companies, Coast, which builds payments software for commercial vehicle fleets, as an example. He argues that’s a type of user or company that hasn’t been catered to historically but has a “substantial” amount of payment volume.
The upshot is “increasingly, you’re going to find that Americans are going to access financial products through platforms that they have closer affiliations to: If you’re a construction worker or a construction company, you might have financial products sort of embedded within the construction software that you use, and it can be really clever,” he believes.
Charles Birnbaum, partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Unlike other investors who are wary of fintechs whose business models focus on lending (specifically, balance sheet lending, where the debt is kept on the lender’s books), Charles Birnbaum, a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, isn’t scared off of them altogether. He does predict, however, that startups offering lending services will “grow more cautiously and focus much more on the contribution margin of their business—after you account for all the fraud, all the risk, and the cost of capital, which is clearly rising.”
In fact, Birnbaum predicts, “You will see consumer fintechs be more forced to get into the world of unsecured consumer lending, kind of despite the macro headwinds, and…do it more carefully.”
He also thinks we’ll see lots of consolidation in fintech, both on the consumer and B2B (business to business) side, particularly in the second half of 2023. “A lot of business models had pretty thin margins on the consumer fintech side, and I think as people need to raise capital again, [and] as runways shorten in late ’23 and early ’24, there’s just going to be a lot of consolidation in the space.” Whether that’s “incumbents buying these companies or companies just joining forces with complementary offerings, I think you’re gonna see both—particularly on the consumer side.”
One other prediction? The trend of neobanks and other fintechs launching crypto trading on their platforms will likely die down in the coming year. “I don’t think people are going to retreat from offering that to customers,” says Birnbaum, but for startups that didn’t already “have it on their road map,” they likely won’t be adding it in 2023.
Jesse Wedler, general partner, and Sumi Das, partner, CapitalG
CapitalG partner Sumi Das isn’t thinking small when it comes to his predictions: “I think the definition of a fintech company is going to change a ton,” he opines. He argues the “old” way of thinking of it was, “All right, you’re providing a banking service to a customer. That’s a fintech company.” The new definition of a fintech company might be something totally unrelated to fintech: “I’m building a B2B marketplace that connects buyers and sellers, and as part of that I’m embedding financing into that platform, or I’m building a vertical software company for a niche market and then I’m going to add financial services, like a Toast would,” he says, pointing to restaurant point-of-sale and management system provider Toast. He believes it’s those kinds of new fintech companies that will be the “most valuable.”
His colleague Wedler, meanwhile, expects consumer fintech—those types of startups that target consumers and their money (think credit cards or neobanks)—will be “challenged” in 2023. What will be more popular with VCs over the next 12 months will be “the safer business models,” like software selling to banks and other financial services providers, he predicts. “That’s just a very easy-to-understand, software-type business model that’s typically lower risk, lower burn.”
Wedler also expects that despite the overall slump in valuations, high quality (or what he calls “above average”) companies will still command top dollar—including in fintech. “There’ll be no attractive valuations for those because everyone’s so eager” to invest in them.
Laura Bock, partner, QED
According to QED partner Laura Bock, who focuses on U.S. fintech, founders shouldn’t expect a much-improved funding environment for the next six to nine months—a warning echoed by most venture investors in some capacity right now.
But apart from a trickier time raising cash, Bock says she and her team are “inspired” by innovation coming out of Israel. She predicts, “We’ll see more fintech winners emerging from that geography, following the footsteps of Payoneer, Melio, and Next.”
Beyond Israel’s borders, Bock expects there will be more B2B fintechs that provide “a back office ‘easy button’ for small and midsize businesses that are seeking automation and intelligence to optimize operations.” She believes there will be “more vertical solutions penetrating large legacy industries” like health care, logistics, construction, and real estate, to name a few, “with modern tooling as these businesses are looking to boost monetization and engagement.”
Grace Isford, partner, Lux Capital
A.I. has increasingly been a topic inside and outside of VC circles over recent months—and it seems as though everyone from Twitter users to top venture investors can’t stop talking about it. Grace Isford, a partner at Lux Capital, is no exception.
She predicts that “in 2023, we’ll see large language models penetrate fintech.” Isford notes that “building upon existing [machine learning and A.I.] adoption, it will become table stakes for fintech companies to leverage large language models to process and prioritize claims, coordinate workflows, improve banking services, and bolster risk management for payments and underwriting.”