Finnovista is a leading innovation and venture capital firm committed to developing the Fintech ecosystem and transforming finance for the better. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Finnovista co-founder and Managing Partner Fermín Bueno to learn more about the firm.
Fermín Bueno’s Background
What is Bueno’s background? Bueno said:
“Born in Spain, I was raised and educated there, finishing my Engineering education in Sweden. I then spent 15 years living and working in Europe on tech development, strategy consultancy and venture capital. Together with Andrés Fontao, I founded Finnovista in 2013 convinced that technology startups would transform financial services, similar to what Uber, Spotify and Airbnb were already doing in their respective industries.”
“Andrés and I had a shared conviction that banking, payments and insurance would be disrupted and we wanted to empower early stage entrepreneurs with know-how, know-who and capital. We identified product market fit in Latin America and that is where we are today. Finnovista.vc is the startup investment arm of Finnovista, an organization that has played a pivotal role in orchestrating the Fintech ecosystem in Latin America over the past 10+ years.”
Evolution Of Finnovista’s Thesis
How has Finnovista’s thesis evolved over time? Bueno noted:
“Fund I was much more about direct to consumer value propositions, whereby entrepreneurs leveraged internet, mobile and cloud technologies to unbundle financial services and build financial products and services that solved customer pain points, both for consumers and SMEs.”
“Fintech has evolved over time, we see Fintech as having become a new technology platform that can lower barriers to entry and ignite exponential growth in digital financial innovation in Latin American and around the globe. This is often referred to as Embedded Finance, whereby firms are able to abstract financial services functionality into technology to enable any product/service provider or developer to seamlessly integrate innovative financial services into their customer propositions and experiences. It offers the opportunity to any brand and digital player to leverage the customer relationship, with personalized, real-time and relevant context (data) in order to create better value and customer experience and increase revenue by up to 5x.”
“In this context, every industry can offer financial services by leveraging Fintech infrastructure and deploying Fintech plug-ins. In Latin America, this will bring unprecedented financial innovation & inclusion to consumers and SMEs.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for Finnovista so far? Bueno reflected:
“Reflecting on my journey at Finnovista, my favorite memories are akin to constructing a sturdy bridge. The thrill of laying down the foundation, collaborating with brilliant minds, and witnessing the structure take shape —whether it’s Finnovista or supporting early-stage entrepreneurs— fuels my passion. There’s an artistry in building, and I relish every moment of it, whether I’m helping to build our firm or supporting early-stage Fintech entrepreneurs build theirs.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of Finnovista’s most significant milestones? Bueno cited:
“I can call out two major milestones in our journey this far:
- The second close milestone marked the successful completion of our fundraising efforts for Fund I. It signified that the fund had secured its capital commitments from investors, allowing us to begin deploying capital into investments and supporting the talent that was building incredible products and companies that were bound to transform and disrupt financial services in the region.
- In 2021 we exited Flink and Dapp, generating 100x and 60x returns, respectively. Beyond the financial gains for our LPs, it represented the culmination of our support to the founders of these two companies. We had been part of their growth story, providing guidance, mentorship, and resources. Exiting validated their hard work and vision.”
AUM And Other Metrics
Upon asking Bueno about Finnovista’s assets under management and other metrics, he revealed:
“Finnovista.vc Fund I successfully invested in 42 pre-seed and seed startups in 2017-20, has helped create the region’s early Fintech leaders and has returned a 6x multiple for its investors (MoIC) and 230% Distributed to Paid-in Capital. We are now planning Fund II and we are excited about building embedded finance infrastructure and plug-ins and helping democratize digital finance in Latin America.”
Industry Focus
What are some of the industries that Finnovista is focused on? Bueno pointed out:
“We practice what we preach: we are laser-focused and therefore only look at Fintech and the intersection of digital finance with e-Commerce, Logistics and other sectors in Spanish-speaking Latin America.”
Differentiation From Other Firms
What differentiates Finnovista from other firms? Bueno emphasized:
“Our specialization. We’ve taken an ecosystem-driven approach to investment (and everything we do) by building a community and network of regional and global experts of entrepreneurs, investors and industry executives to help source, evaluate and support the startups across all aspects of financial services, talent, funding and regulation.”
Challenges Faced
What are some of the challenges have Bueno and the team faced while working at the firm? Bueno acknowledged:
“Credibility was the number one challenge we encountered at the beginning of our journey. It didn’t matter that individually and collectively Andrés and I had prior banking and investment experience. In the nascent industry that was Fintech in Latin America in the 2013-2017 period, particularly because we were dealing with regulated and compliance-heavy sectors like payments, insurance and banking, we needed to leverage people and organizations that were considered pioneers in their respective geographies to strengthen our credibility and access the knowledge and playbooks that had worked in other markets. We overcame this challenge by aligning and partnering with recognized brands such as BBVA, the Inter American Development Bank, Visa, Mastercard, and Startupbootcamp, just to name a few.”
“Upon building this credibility through our third-party relationships, we focused on a holistic approach to remaining front and center of the regional Fintech ecosystem in Latin America. Through our high-impact networking, content and events platform, FINNOSUMMIT, we organize the largest Fintech conference in Latin America and are committed to the development of the Fintech ecosystem by driving Fintech knowledge in the region through the development of studies and periodical publications on the state and latest trends in Fintech innovations. Due to our corporate innovation work we became the preferred partner for industry-leading incumbents to help drive collaboration with Fintechs, we were able to strengthen our credibility by delivering results and value to the ecosystem as a whole.”
Future Goals
What are some of your firm’s future goals? Bueno concluded:
“Right now we are planning our next investment vehicle, which will be at the intersection of Fintech and other sectors where digital finance is a disruptive force. We are also excited about new venture capital models, and after leading with Fund I on the ecosystem-driven fund model, we are keen on exploring other models and venture stages that could help LATAM entrepreneurs.
“Beyond that, we can’t not think about future funds. The opportunity is so large, the talent is relentless, disruption is forthcoming and technology is truly evolving at exponential rates that no fund or effort will be too large to continue supporting our mission to transform finance for the better in Latin America.”
“We will continue to firmly support Latin American Fintech entrepreneurs, providing them with support through our world-class Fintech accelerator program and our extensive resources of the Fintech ecosystem in the region.”
