The Global Fintech Hubs Federation (GFHF), has been announced on August 25, 2016, on initiative of Innotribe and Innovate Finance, to foster innovation across the world’s financial services industry and help startups and institutions gain visibility into new markets. Stakeholders from more than 20 cities around the world, including London, Shanghai, Frankfurt, Istanbul and Nairobi, have already decided to join the federation, with more groups to come.
The declared mission of this new federation, that will be formally launched next month at the Sibos conference in Geneva, is to foster engagement amongst the global fintech ecosystem, share best practices and standardize knowledge and build bridges for greater collaboration between fintech hubs.
The hubs will be ranked taking into consideration various criteria, including the amount of capital available, the ease of starting business, the talent pool available in the area, and how financial technology is regulated. The aim of this should not be to make them compete with each other, but to benchmark the best practices in order to grow the entire federation. GFHF will be funded with sponsorship from professional services firms and every member will potentially have the possibility to lead the federation as the plan is to have an annual revolving chair.
Hubertus Vaeth, Head of the trade association Frankfurt Main Finance, which is one of the clusters that have already signed a letter of intent to join the federation, declared to Reuters that "Fintechs (financial technology companies) play an increasingly critical role in the finance industry and therefore, their advancement is of the utmost importance". "The launch of the GFHF (Global Fintech Hubs Federation) will provide a platform for global fintech players and hubs to share knowledge and build an inclusive community network that will help accelerate the growth and influence of global fintech and help shape a better financial services future” said Innovate Finance CEO, Lawrence Wintermeyer, with Fabian Vandenreydt, Global Head of Securities Markets, Innotribe and The SWIFT Institute, that added: "As the FinTech sector develops globally, it has never been as important to encourage discussion and collaboration within the financial industry”.
For more information about the new fintech federation you can check their website at this link: http://www.thegfhf.org/
The hubs will be ranked taking into consideration various criteria, including the amount of capital available, the ease of starting business, the talent pool available in the area, and how financial technology is regulated. The aim of this should not be to make them compete with each other, but to benchmark the best practices in order to grow the entire federation. GFHF will be funded with sponsorship from professional services firms and every member will potentially have the possibility to lead the federation as the plan is to have an annual revolving chair.
Hubertus Vaeth, Head of the trade association Frankfurt Main Finance, which is one of the clusters that have already signed a letter of intent to join the federation, declared to Reuters that "Fintechs (financial technology companies) play an increasingly critical role in the finance industry and therefore, their advancement is of the utmost importance". "The launch of the GFHF (Global Fintech Hubs Federation) will provide a platform for global fintech players and hubs to share knowledge and build an inclusive community network that will help accelerate the growth and influence of global fintech and help shape a better financial services future” said Innovate Finance CEO, Lawrence Wintermeyer, with Fabian Vandenreydt, Global Head of Securities Markets, Innotribe and The SWIFT Institute, that added: "As the FinTech sector develops globally, it has never been as important to encourage discussion and collaboration within the financial industry”.
For more information about the new fintech federation you can check their website at this link: http://www.thegfhf.org/

About the author - Alessandro Ravanetti
Alessandro is Co-founder & CMO of Crowd Valley. He has worked in the fintech industry, with marketplace investing and lending, since 2011. Has built and managed digital companies with distributed teams and international partners, and gained experience with both startups and large corporations, having worked with British Telecom, Bloomberg and the Grow VC Group.
Alessandro grew up in Italy, where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics at University of Parma, before to obtain a M.S. in Finance at Regent’s University London. He studied and worked in many different cities, including Munich, Geneva, London, Barcelona and Valencia. Genuinely passionate about financial technology and innovation, he loves to spend his spare time traveling and discovering new cultures. You can find him on Twitter at @aleravanetti.
Alessandro is Co-founder & CMO of Crowd Valley. He has worked in the fintech industry, with marketplace investing and lending, since 2011. Has built and managed digital companies with distributed teams and international partners, and gained experience with both startups and large corporations, having worked with British Telecom, Bloomberg and the Grow VC Group.
Alessandro grew up in Italy, where he graduated with a B.A. in Economics at University of Parma, before to obtain a M.S. in Finance at Regent’s University London. He studied and worked in many different cities, including Munich, Geneva, London, Barcelona and Valencia. Genuinely passionate about financial technology and innovation, he loves to spend his spare time traveling and discovering new cultures. You can find him on Twitter at @aleravanetti.