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VC money, but with no offering that Anyone who has been at a fintech
solves any problems. Such companies
might not provide a new or better so- conference in the last 10 years might have
lution to an existing problem or have been given a business card and tote bag by
a real addressable market, and quite
often they have no plan to become a a company with a clever name, slick logo,
profitable business. This preference scads of VC money, but with no offering that
for growth over profit is key and is
one of the defining aspects of the solves any problems.
ZIRP era. Of course, there are exam-
ples where it has been responsible for
massively successful companies. Am- This shift prioritizes problem-solving over hypergrowth, potentially leading to
azon dramatically cut prices of books a more sustainable and impactful fintech industry. So, while the easy money
to the point that physical bookstores days are gone, the future of fintech is looking brighter than ever, built on a
were going out of business, eventu- foundation of innovation, purpose and resilience.
ally expanding its customer base
so much that it cannot fail to turn a
profit. Scott Dawson, head of sales and strategic partnerships at DECTA, is a highly motivated and results
oriented individual with 20 years of experience within the payments industry. Previously, he served
In fact, it is selling so much that even as commercial director at Neopay. He has also held fraud management positions at PSI Holdings
the pennies it makes on a sale add up and Neteller, before becoming senior fraud manager and then business development manager
to hundreds of billions of dollars in at ClickandBuy, which was acquired by Deutsche Telekom. DECTA, www.decta.com, provides
gross profit each year (see https://ti- end-to-end payment infrastructure, from acquiring to issuing and processing, but unlike other
nyurl.com/39pxe8f9). That being said, players in the crowded payments marketplace the company offers bespoke-as-standard solutions
its rate of growth is falling—despite aimed at making payments accessible to everyone. Contact Scott via LinkedIn at linkedin.com/
a marked upturn during the pan- in/scott-dawson-uk.
demic—from an average of around 40
percent YoY quarterly growth in the
early 2010s to 30 percent later in that
decade and now a flat 20 percent. It
has now transitioned from a period
of rapid growth to a profit-driven
model, something that many other
growth-oriented companies have
failed to do.
From unicorns to diamonds
Forget the days of blind VC bets on
hundreds of fintech startups, hoping
for a unicorn jackpot. The easy mon-
ey era is over. However, this industry
shake-up could well be a blessing in
disguise. Instead of taking aim at ev-
ery company in sight, VCs are now la-
ser-focused, seeking rare gems with
real profit potential and solutions to
actual problems. This shift forces in-
novation and builds a stronger, more
reliable fintech sector.

Investment certainly isn't as exuber-
ant as before; investors are taking a
slower, more calculated approach.
This scares some startups off the
volatile VC roller coaster (see https://
tinyurl.com/3dznkbyz), but it also
pushes them to explore alternative
funding options, fostering resilience
and adaptability.

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