Fabian Grapengiesser CEO of Stock Republic AB
On FinTech Profile today we are pleased to talk to Fabian Grapengiesser, founder of Stock Republic AB, who provide social networking services for investors. This is a platform that equipped investors with the ability to analyze potential investment opportunities through scientific dataset.
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Who are you and what’s your background?
I used to head the ’internet-office’ at the Swedish bank SEB. Worked a lot with the savings and investment offer. In that context I realised that banks sit on a goldmine of information when it comes to how their customer base take care of their investments. 10-15% of the customers take really good care of their own money, year after year. How to use, filter out and visualise that data to open up this knowledge to every customer was the starting point for what we do.
What is your job title and what are your general responsibilities?
CEO, since we’re a pretty small company (10 + consultants) I work with product, sales and organisation.
Can you give us an overview of your business?
We offer banks and brokers in any market a platform to provide a network for investors. Our mission is to connect investors and their data in a world wide network. Our model is B2B2C, meaning we provide platform, applications, APIs etc to banks for their end-users to use.
Tell us how you are funded.
Mostly privately funded, but have some VC funding and funding from Bank VC arms (like Commerzbank) as well.
Why did you start the company? To solve what problems?
To help people get trustworthy guidance online on how to handle their investments. Based not on words- but action (what good investors do with their own money right now).
Who are your target customers? What’s your revenue model?
Banks and brokers in any country that wants to provide high-end online investing. Revenue model is B2B license based on usage.
If you had a magic wand, what one thing would you change in the banking and/or FinTech sector?
Launch Open Finance world wide (Open banking including investments).
What is your message for the larger players in the Finance industry?
If you want to keep up and be competitive, make partnerships with fast and sharp third-parties.
What phone are you carrying and why?
iPhone X, due to habit and Apple universe lock-in effect I guess.
Where do you get your industry news from?
Digital wealth week newsletter and LinkedIn. Digital Wealth Weekly Newsletter is the only newsletter I’ve come across that every time I read, it gives me truly relevant updates and information about what happens in the Fintech space globally. Focus on the US and Europe markets but good coverage for the rest of the world as well.
Can you list 3 people you rate from the FinTech sector that we should be following on Twitter?
Not sure about Twitters quality these days but: Lex Sokolin and Nik Storonsky are interesting.
What’s the best FinTech product or service you’ve seen recently?
Simply wall str (Australia). Simply Wall str gives a global coverage of stocks with great detail, but at the same time simplistic visualisations that’s easy to grasp for anyone. One good example of simplifying complex material for the broader market.
Finally, let’s talk predictions. What trends do you think are going to define the next few years in the FinTech sector?
- The massive increase of retail investors.
- Next phase of open banking = open finance.
Our thanks to Fabian for his thoughts today. You can connect with Fabian on LinkedIn here or find out more about Stock Republic AB on their web site: https://www.stockrepublic.io
