Fintech

Cyprus was cited as an example to follow regarding its startups environment that is second only to tourism in contribution in the island's economy at a major conference in Athens last week.

Turkish fintech startups received a total of $166 million worth of investment in the first five months of 2024, according to a report by the Finance Office.

Some 10 deals were made in January-May, said the Fintech Snapshot report.

There was a total of 845 fintech startups in Türkiye as of May and 696 of them were operational.

The Hellenic Capital Market Commission will host the 49th Annual Meeting of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in Athens from Sunday to Wednesday.

In the annual meeting's framework, the Greek commission will also hold a congress on "Climate at the Center of Economy" at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Wednesday.

Vestbee, one of the leading European platforms connecting startups, VC funds, accelerators, and corporates, has just released its VC Funding In CEE Report for 3Q 2023. The quarterly overview reveals that Central and Eastern Europe's financing trends align with those observed across Europe and globally.

In recent years, the financial sector has been undergoing significant changes due to widespread digital transformation. The introduction of Internet banking, the development of financial technologies and other innovations open up unique opportunities to improve the quality of customer service. Among them is open banking.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to replace cash, but adoption may take time, said Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

"CBDCs can replace money that is expensive to circulate in island economies," she said Wednesday at the Singapore FinTech Festival event, CNBC reported.

It's the last chance for fintech startups to join the AWS Global Fintech Accelerator, a non-equity, online program, launched by Amazon Web Services in collaboration with NVIDIA, a tech giant igniting the era of modern AI, and Vestbee, one of Europe's leading platforms for startups, venture capital firms, accelerators and corporations.

The total deal volume in the Turkish startup ecosystem, including acquisitions, has amounted to $78.9 million in the first quarter of 2023 with 53 deals, shows a report by KPMG Türkiye and 212.

Global startup funding carried out $76 billion, which indicates a sharp decline, compared to the record-breaking first quarter of last year, the report noted.

With its geographical location and tech savvy young population, Türkiye may become a fintech hub in its region, says Erkan Kork, the president of the Payment and Electronic Money Institutions' Association (TÖDEB).

AWS has launched its brand new program AWS Global Fintech Accelerator in collaboration with NVIDIA and Vestbee that will equip fintech startups with tools, resources and a wide network of top experts, and VC funds to fast-track their AI development and business success.