Breaking America: European fintech edition

Expanding to the US is a watershed moment in any European startup’s history with hundreds of companies making the move every year. In fintech, it’s no different, as customer demands for digital services accelerate across the Atlantic. The drawbacks of legacy institutions, high fees for banking and loans, as well as evolving regulation are all creating opportunities Stateside for European founders.

At our recent Fintech Showcase, we brought together early-stage founder Nicky Goulimis, CEO of Tunic Pay, which is building the infrastructure to protect consumers from scams, with two of our thoroughbred companies Christopher Hamblin, Head of Growth at Cleo, the AI money assistant helping 6 million people, and Frank Freund, Co-founder & CFO of Raisin, the leading consumer deposit marketplace, to explore what should and shouldn’t be done to break the US successfully using their experience.

Here are the key takeaways:

Take your time: Just because the US opportunity is so big, it doesn’t mean you will succeed straight away - it took 3.5 years for Raisin to reach product-market fit.

Be deliberate about hiring: Both Cleo and Raisin have engineering and data teams in Europe but hired commercial teams across the US to tap into local knowledge and understand customer nuances across states and regions.

Switch up your strategy: Raisin never acquired a customer through social media in Germany, but in the US it has become a critical channel. Be prepared to switch up your plans and don’t rely on the same European playbook.

It’s all about the money: Top talent is more expensive in the US than in Europe. It can be easy to burn through capital if you don’t have the right conviction and strategy to survive so stay focused.

Find the people that failed: Ask your investors for introductions to the founders in the portfolio that failed to crack the US - learn from their mistakes. This could prove more fruitful than speaking to people that succeeded.

Start regulatory conversations early: Cleo already had a US app and regulatory approval before the product launched. Starting those conversations early helped them when they were ready to expand.

Do it for the right reasons: Expanding to the US isn’t easy so make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. As Frank said, the US should be 20 to 30% of your revenue, otherwise, it’s not worth it. For Cleo, this was an opportunity to refocus the company on one huge market.

Watch the highlights video below to find out more: