Welcome to How To Be The Difference: The Blog Series. Learn and be inspired by key opinion leaders across the world, dive into work culture, DEI & the future of work. Each article features a guest who has joined our hosts, Paul and Johanna, for an episode of The Intern Group’s podcast How to be the difference.
Entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he is an expert on the startup world and the intersection of technology and finance. Fintech and the Power of Education are the perfect mix of his passions.
He founded Velum Ventures, a firm geared towards investments in early and seed-stage businesses in Colombia and around Latin America.
Esteban is also the CEO and co-founder of Sempli, a fintech company that focuses on improving the financial health and wellness of Colombian small businesses through its all-in-one finance digital bank.
Sempli has supported over 2000 small businesses in Colombia, lending over $55 million dollars. Sempli also created the first credit card for small businesses in Colombia not backed by a traditional financial institution.
Esteban is from a very entrepreneurial family, and actually launched his career as an entrepreneur!
However, his first attempt at entrepreneurship ended in bankruptcy. From there, he worked first in an investment bank, and then at a venture capital firm. Of course, that diverse experience armed him with excellent skills on all ends of the investment spectrum.
From there, Esteban decided to create his own venture capital fund. This was a difficult challenge, he explained, because he didn’t come from a wealthy family. So, Esteban turned to the immense network he’d built during the various stages of his career.
He invited his connections to join him on a journey of supporting Colombian startups, and Velum Ventures was born. Velum supports digital, disruptive startups in Colombia and sometimes elsewhere in Latin America.
Today, Esteban has worked in all different stages of venture capitalism, including designing a fund and deciding what elements to look for in a business.
The academic definition of fintech is “offering financial products through technology,” Esteban told Johanna and Paul.
But people working in the industry understand that fintech is two things, he said.
The first is access. Creating opportunities in the market to get a financial product. Access doesn’t necessarily mean companies that are creating the first financial product. Instead, it often means enhancing access to the financial world. For example, in Latin America, fewer than 10% of small businesses have access to credit, Esteban said.
When you think about it from an access perspective, fintech is even more relevant for emerging economies than for more developed economies, he explained.
The second part of fintech is experience. Fintech products provide the opportunity to be more agile, to simplify complex financial tasks for both businesses and individuals.
From a venture capitalist perspective, education is one of the most relevant investment opportunities today, Esteban said.
Education is about giving opportunities and wellness to a particular community, he explained. “In Latin America, it’s one of the things that is most needed. And I see that the market also wants to be educated.”
There’s a big crossover between fintech and “edtech,” Esteban said. Fintech companies have worked very hard, for example, on educational projects for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs need to understand corporate finance, marketing strategies, and more.
Of course, fintech also provides opportunities that are consumer-oriented. These often include education about personal wealth, credit, and investment opportunities.
However, finance isn’t the only area that is closely aligned with edtech, Esteban said. There are opportunities in many other markets. Esteban points to the language learning market in particular. Having a second or third language opens up the opportunity to learn about culture, which brings a huge benefit to career development, he said.
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