Significant Drop in FinTech Investments Recorded Last Year: This Competition Provides New Opportunity for Innovative Startups With Prizes up to EUR 10,000

Investments in financial technologies experienced a significant decline last year. In the third quarter of 2023, the value of investments decreased by 36% compared to the previous year, with a total of USD 6 billion invested in FinTech companies and their new solutions on the market, as concluded by an analysis from S&P Global Market. Alongside the decline in invested capital, the number of transactions also decreased.

However, experts caution that these are positive developments and may indicate a serious maturation of the FinTech market. Despite the decrease in the number and size of investments, experienced startups, already in later rounds of capital attraction, maintained their volume and number of investments, regardless of the rest of the industry.

In an interview for the largest regional FinTech conference - Money Motion 2024 - Božidar Pavlović, CEO of Jackie agency with over 25 years of experience in banking, finance, and new technologies, explained that nothing surprising is happening.

"Investment cycles have always had their ups and downs, affecting not only FinTech. Global events have simply taken their toll. However, we see the first signs of recovery, and I am confident that we will see many more investments in the near future. Nevertheless, compared to pre-crisis times, strong alignment of products with market needs and demonstrating traction will be more important than ever," Pavlović noted.

A new investment cycle is starting in FinTech startups that can prove their growth, sustainability, and innovation in solving specific user and societal problems, as confirmed by a new report from the global consulting company McKinsey, announcing the maturation of the entire FinTech market.

Teams already achieving this with their solutions will have the opportunity to join the Money Motion Startup competition again this year. The top 10 applications will be selected to pitch their business solutions and plans before a jury of six investors and industry experts. The top three startups will share a prize pool of EUR 10,000, and their names will be heard by more than 2500 attendees at this year's conference, taking place on March 21-22 at the Zagreb Fair, Zagreb, Croatia.

All startups working on technological solutions in the fields of banking, financial management, investments, insurance, crypto trading, and other financial technologies are invited to apply for the competition on the conference's official website. Applications are open until February 15, and the pitch competition will take place during the first day of the conference on the startup stage.

The Money Motion Startup program and competition as a separate entity on its stage were created with the organizers' desire to leverage their knowledge, connections, and resources to bring together all the key steps for the success of FinTech startups in one place. Each of them aims to change the world and become a successful corporation, believes Luka Sučić, co-founder of Money Motion. Corporations are attracted to innovative ideas from startups that have the potential to disrupt their business models one day. However, it often happens that a corporation, due to fundamentally different functioning and requirements, can quickly stifle a startup with a small team.

"That is precisely why we designed the Money Motion Startup program. We have experience in startups but also in working in corporations, and we know how to help both sides find a common language. Through the Money Motion Startup competition, a startup will not only gain exposure but also receive crucial feedback from people to whom they will soon offer their services," he says and adds:

"Networking is the last but not negligible part of the story - Money Motion is a neutral ground where startups and corporations can mingle without either side feeling threatened or out of place."

The first Money Motion conference last year sold out a week before its start and brought together more than 1,300 attendees from 12 countries around the world. Prominent international figures such as Andrius Bičeika, partner at Revolut, a leading digital bank, Takeshi Kito, successful entrepreneur and vice president of the Japanese FinTech Association, and Matteo Rizzi, founder of FTS Group, a global platform supporting investors and entrepreneurs in the FinTech world, along with industry leaders in the region, presented the most important events, challenges, and innovations in the market. Throughout the two-day program, the audience posed numerous questions, and discussions continued in the networking lounge and among the numerous booths by leading brands in the expo arena.

MoMo2024 is expecting twice as many participants with even more international speakers this year. Following the success of the first edition, main stage speakers returning to the conference include Andrius Bičeika, Panagiotis Kriaris, FinTech expert and business development manager at Unzer, a rapidly growing platform for international payments, and Balázs Békeffy, CEO of OTP Banka. They will be joined on stage by Meeri Savolainen, founder and CEO of the Berlin-based insurance technology pioneer INZMO, Péter Csányi, deputy CEO and chief digital officer, and member of the board of directors of OTP Group, and Aleksandra Babić, director for B2B and product marketing for Europe at Mastercard.

The conference will cover all relevant industry topics from banking and personal finance, privacy and cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and blockchain, to digital identity, InsurTech, open banking, and regulatory technology. The exhibition space will span 1,500 sqm, and a significant addition is an extra stage that will transform into a discussion platform for the latest technologies and potential trends after the first day of the startup program.

Applications for the Startup Pitch, more about the Startup program, the main and brand new FinTech 2030 stages, and tickets for the conference can be found on the conference's official website. Currently, Early Bird tickets are on sale for EUR 199, and student tickets for EUR 49.