With the British pound at one of its lowest points in the past half century, some investors are still swooping in, framing it as an opportunity. A new fintech VC called Motive Partners, founded by a team of fintech entrepreneurs and investors is launching today with offices in London and New York. Although not revealing its fund size, the company quietly filed a Form D with the SEC earlier this month, noting that it was raising $150 million.
This significant amount is merely limited to the US. It is not implausible to surmise that, as an entity with headquarters in the UK as well, it is likely to be raising (or trying to raise) a lot more.
The market today features its fair share of VCs focusing on financial tech startups, either as their sole focus or as a special interest along with a number of others. In that light, Motive is a late entrant, but it is banking on a few factors to make a big splash.
The first is the size of the market. Motive Partners quotes figures from Goldman Sachs that estimate $4.7 trillion in annual revenue at risk of displacement by new tech-enabled entrants. Turning that on its head, investing in those disruptors can be seen as a $4.7 trillion opportunity. Managing partner Rob Heyvaert said in a statement:
We believe that financial services is in the middle of a perfect storm of change, driving towards a better customer experience, frictionless technology integration, new standards and most of all a ‘democratization of access’ to financial services around the world. These transformational forces will persistently present meaningful investment opportunities to sector specialists.
The second is Motive’s team, a blend of financial industry execs and investors. Along with Heyvaert (former corporate EVP of Global Financial Solutions at FIS; Founder and CEO at Capco; General Manager of Securities and Capital Markets at IBM; and Founder and CEO of Cimad Consultants), other founding partners include Stephen C. Daffron (former CEO at Interactive Data Corporation; Global Head of Technology & Operations at Morgan Stanley; and COO at Renaissance Technologies); Michael Hayford (former corporate EVP and CFO at FIS; and President & COO at Metavante Technologies).
Among the partners Alastair Lukies (founder of Monitise, and fintech advisor to the Prime Minister); and Andy Stewart (formerly of BlackRock). Jon Bradford, who used to head up TechStars in the UK, is also working with the firm. According to a statement by Lukies:
Both London and New York have worked exceptionally hard to take a position at the forefront of the financial technology ecosystem. With the support of leading professionals in both cities, we are dedicated to playing a meaningful role in enabling the seismic shift in the way society interacts with its finances.
Although Motive Partners has not revealed what its first investment will be, a report last night on Sky News identified an undisclosed amount in LMRKTS.com, which has been confirmed by TechCrunch.
LMRKTS describes itself as a specialist in “multi lateral and dimensional compression.” The startup has developed a set of algorithms that identifies redundant, overlapping foreign exchanges for large banks, and helps them save money by eliminating them through trades.
Also backing Motive Partners is Larry Summers, the former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, who sits on the startup’s board. It appears that, in theory at least, Motive’s in-house expertise should come in handy where due diligence is concerned.
