Leading startup investment insiders told us what they’re looking for in the perfect fintech
Rajeev Gupta knows about startups and what’s needed to attract funding for them.
The former investment banker and technology investor has had his own startup, Geckolife, and has also worked at Goldman Sachs and Tribeca.
Now he’s a partner at Alium Capital, a technology-focused crossover investment fund looking after sophisticated investors wanting to get in on smaller, high potential projects overlooked by the big players.
He’s recently closed a couple of key investments in local Sydney fintech startups. In Australia, fintech is mostly driven by local companies, with 512 Australian and 67 offshore companies operating locally, according to analysis by KPMG.
One of Gupta’s investments is Stockspot, a robo-adviser fund manager founded by Chris Brycki, a former UBS and BlueLake Partners portfolio manager.
If you were betting on people, Brycki is as close to a sure thing as can be. He started investing at age 10 and was a fund manager when still in his teens.
In May Stockspot raised $3 million in a series B capital round. Among the investors was ETF Securities founder Graham Tuckwell, Alium Capital and Toby and Ben Heap of H2 Ventures.
Gupta at Alium knows that a successful startup isn’t about the superficial cliches of health-sapping junk food, doing all night coding sessions and cool warehouse-style offices.
Alium has invested a total of $100 million in parcels ranging from $250,000 to $5 million, and has looked at more than 400 companies.
Gupta approaches each investment the same way, in a series of stages.
“It’s multi-faceted,” he told Business Insider. “There are a few phases. You have to absolutely start with phase one. Phase one is, you must understand the individual, their demeanor, their leadership capability and their ability to grow a business.”
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