In the Fintech District community, partners play a key role and contribute to the growth of start-ups and scale-ups. Each does this in its own way, offering expertise and experience. In Lixi Invest‘s case, this is explained in this interview.

What does Lixi Invest do and who does it address?

Lixi Invest is a company founded in 2018 and now employing 18 people on a daily basis. Our business model is based on an e-learning platform focused on financial literacy, investing and financial planning: committed to helping investors and savers invest strategically, consciously, and efficiently.
We teach people how to manage their money by following a solid financial planning process, from zero to the investor. Specifically, we pursue our mission by selling memberships, books, digital courses, and newsletters geared toward private savers and investors. Our business model revolves around getting new leads through advertising and educational content, in turn nurturing them these by leveraging free newsletters, videos, blog posts, podcasts, and infographics on different platforms. Finally, the prospects who are keen on taking things to the next level can buy our advanced digital courses and memberships.

Who are you addressing and what do you offer? What is your uniqueness?

Our uniqueness stems from the holistic approach we have towards investing, based on the top -tier academic and scientific literature available. As an agile e-learning platform we have been able to be the first on the Italian market to develop products and services best serving private investors’ interests and investment planning needs covering every stage of the investors’ lifecycle. Unlike the our competitors, we are not forced to launch every two months low – quality products and services in order to supply for the cash – flow needed to run a business in the e-leaning market. We have a loyal, satisfied and recurrent customer base which is expanding thanks to our wide – ranging advertisement campaigns.

Why have you become interested in fintech? What opportunities do you see in this sector?

Fintech is the natural evolution of our company’s growth path. We’re grateful to the world of training and we are willing to mantain our educational vocation which allowed us to reach tens of thousands of investors, but we want to take a step further towards this sector. By leveraging technology, we would like to further improve our investment planning solutions’ efficiency and usability.
We are confident that fintech could be the chance to simplify investors’ money life and investments. Our method, expressed through a new, fast and intuitive form has the potential to hugely impact savers and investors life. The fintech sector is extremely inspiring and innovative. We want to be an active part of the network revolving around it.

How can you, as a Professional Partner , support fintechs in the community?

Lixi Invest is laser focused on the needs, fears, wishes and desires of flesh and blood investors. Our community comprises more than 25.000 savers and investors and it is an ideal starting point to build a permanent observatory with the purpose of gathering data, statistics and insights related to saving habits, investments and personal finance in general. It would be interesting to discuss these topics within the community and to provide our expertise: after all, we are “investor experts” before being investment experts.

Find out more about Lixi Invest – Aegis SCF

What is the attitude of VCs towards fintech today and how is it possible for a startup to attract the attention of top investors? We asked Paolo Gesess, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at United Ventures who has given a mentorship session with the startups of our community on this very topic.

Fundraising for fintech: what are the specificities of this sector?

I wouldn’t say that fundraising for fintech has specific sector-related peculiarities. The differences are mostly related to the business model: in the case of a B2C model, the company will need to be funded for several years, with a considerable capital injection, as the cost of customer acquisition is high and the process is slow. On the other side a B2B model, such as an enterprise software, is streamlined, faster and easier to invest in. Marketing costs are much lower, and so are the funding needs.

Fundraising in Italy: has the situation improved in recent years compared to other countries?

The situation has certainly improved in recent years: new operators have appeared and, more generally, several measures have developed the venture capital market in Italy, and consequently facilitated the fundraising activity of startups. What I recommend to the target companies, in any case, is not to stop at Italian investors, but to open up to investors from other European countries. United Ventures is an European focused VC with a global portfolio, and partnering with many international VCs we can tell that the European tech investing community is getting more and more interested in the Italian startup scenario.

What is the actual attitude of VCs towards fintech?

The fintech sector has exploded in the last few years, but it remains very attractive to investors. The disruption of financial services is ongoing and this process will continue for many more years. In this regard, it is important to remember that the time horizon for venture capital is around 10 years: experience has taught us that disruption takes time. With regard to our portfolio, Moneyfarm is a great example of a long-term investment, able to create enduring, transformative value along the years. We first backed the company in 2012, when the concept of fintech was not as widely popular as today, and a few days ago we celebrated its agreement with Poste Italiane, launching the largest API-based digital wealth management partnership in Europe.

Do’s and Don’ts for a young reality to attract the attention of the VCs?

First of all, to draw the attention of a VC, you need to be very focused on the problem you want to solve and very clear on the solution that you propose. Do (well) one thing and not one hundred. Another crucial point is the coherence between the financial requirements and the stage of development. Founders need to have clear ideas about their financing needs and long-term growth plans. Finally, they must have a perfect understanding of the competitive landscape at European level and, in a regulated landscape such as that of financial services, of the relevant European legislation.

From your point of view, can a structure like Fintech District have a positive impact on the growth of fintech companies?

Certainly, the Fintech District can contribute to the growth of fintech in Italy. As a facilitator of relations between the various subjects of the ecosystem, it can play a role in helping founders and their teams to build a valuable network of professionals with which to deal on different issues. Education and training are extremely important: very often for fintech companies is difficult to recruit profiles that combine the knowledge of financial issues with specific technical and IT skills. The mentorship program itself – of which I am very happy to be part – is an important tile of this knowledge sharing process. Talent and capital go together: they are both crucial for a company to grow internationally and make a meaningful impact.

Discover our mentorship program. If you join our community, you can participate for free!