The VC fintech environment in 2024: Pragmatism and the art of playing the long game

Fintech has always been an exciting space for venture capital investors, but it’s no secret that today's environment remains a challenging one for the venture capital industry. During the previous era of low interest rates, investors were competing to back startups at increasingly high valuations, but now future ROI remains uncertain for many. Many funds are sitting on record amounts of capital ready to deploy but startups are reluctant to take on reduced valuations. This has led to valuations moving from "art" to "science," or hard data and fundamentals, requiring pre-seed companies to return to "mechanics" in order to understand what VCs are really solving for. Many in the industry are welcoming these conversations as they reflect a healthy shift towards pragmatism. But where are VCs still willing to take risks? What innovations in fintech are catching the eyes of the next generation of investors to get them across the line, and sparking the most interesting conversations? Join Katie Palencsar, Partner at VC fund Anthemis Group, as she shares her perspectives on the current VC environment, which parts of the fintech stack and what issues being solved that she's most passionate about as an investor, her interest in B2B space innovations, and how she's using data and deploying capital to help bring more female founders into fintech.