I believe that today in Turkey, there is an entrepreneurial ecosystem developing that understands the transfer of basic financial concepts to the Web3 world better than most and is building the financial services capabilities of the future…
Who is Sarah Biller?
Sarah Biller, who serves the fintech ecosystem as an entrepreneur, investor and educator, is one of the “20 Most Influential Women” in fintech according to American Banker. Fintech Sandbox, which she co-founded, provides fintech startups around the world with access to the critical data and resources they need to build early-stage fintech products.
She has served as a senior executive, founder and advisor at many companies such as Fidelity Investments, financial markets analysis platform Capital Market Exchange (CMX), WalletFi, Finominal, Vantage Ventures, and Core10. She teaches a graduate- level course on the evolution of Financial Technology at Brandeis University and leads the Boston Fintech Meetup
Fintech Sandbox Founder and Entrepreneur Sarah Biller
- How would you explain the concept of “Being a woman in the fintech and entrepreneurship ecosystem” in a few sentences?
I have spent almost three decades in the innovation economy first in the Telecom sector, then in data informatics and drug discovery in Life Sciences and, finally, found my true passion in the fintech sector. More often than not I found in each of these large industry categories I was initially one of only a handful of women. I viewed it then as I do now as a point of competivite differentiation to be a woman innovating in the fintech sector.
That said, I now see fifteen years later many more women building fintech start-ups and leading innovation teams in industry incumbents. This has not come a minute too soon! There has never been a more critical time for women innovators (or those who want to be) to pursue their passion and build companies at the intersection of financial services and technology.
- What would you like to say about Turkish fintech startups? Are there any features that distinguish Turkish startups from their global competitors?
History is on the side of the Turkish fintech entrepreneur to positively impact the global financial services system. The Tarihi İpek Yolu was for its time the world’s foremost connector of ideas, goods and commerce. Today, I see an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem in Turkey that understands more than many the translation of these fundamental financial concepts to a Web3 world and is building the financial services capabilities of the future. This is exciting!
- What advice would you give to women who want to pursue a career in fintech? Where should they start?
I would advise women that they are extraordinarily well positioned to channel capital to solve big problems even if they have not spent their entire career in financial services. We are living in a world with many seemingly intractable challenges like food insecurity or unequal access to education or gaps in the delivery of healthcare between people who live in cities and those who live in the country.
Women around the world often see these challenges firsthand and understand where embedding fintech solutions can help address them. Women applying fintech to challenges they know well have a distinct advantage.
- Do you find the number of women in the fintech ecosystem sufficient?
There is no question, there is always a need for more women entrepreneurs in fintech. Late last year, Bloomberg news reported that the world is undergoing a massive wealth transfer. The authors noted women will control $34 trillion by 2030. One of the next frontiers for Fintech innovation will be building products and services that uniquely address the financial needs of women.
- Do you follow the Turkish fintech market?
I do follow the Turkish fintech ecosystem and, especially, the innovative payment solutions that have also been licensed to do business by Turkey’s Banking Regulation and Supervisory Agency. There are many lessons we can learn, including how developers of these next generation applications are further reducing friction in the movement of money as well as how they are partnering with regulators
- Are you considering investing in the Turkish market?
I would find an investment opportunity in Turkey very interesting.
- Can you summarize the development and future of the fintech ecosystem in three words?
Digital. Distributed. Frictionless.
- What advice would you give to women who want to pursue a career in fintech? Where should they start?
I would advise women that they are extraordinarily well positioned to channel capital to solve big problems even if they have not spent their entire career in Financial Services. We are living in a world with many seemingly intractable challenges like food insecurity or unequal access to education or gaps in the delivery of healthcare between people who live in cities and those who live the countries.
Women around the world often see these challenges firsthand and understand where embedding Fintech solutions can help address them. Women applying Fintech to challenges they know well have a distinct advantage.
