April 26, 2024 Successful Debut: Fintech Festival FIBE celebrates successful premiere with strong visitor turnout Around 1,700 visitors attended FIBE. The fintech festival hosted by Messe Berlin, Handelsblatt, and Berlin Finance Initiative welcomed prominent stakeholders from the fintech and banking ecosystem over two days at the CityCube of Messe Berlin. The event featured approximately 180 speakers from over 15 countries, adding a diverse range of perspectives and insights to the discussions.On April 24th and 25th, representatives from the fields of fintech, banking, investment, software, consulting, politics, and associations gathered at the CityCube of Messe Berlin for the fintech festival FIBE. FIBE took place for the first time with the aim of becoming the largest community festival for all relevant stakeholders. Key speakers included German Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, Berlin's Senator for Economics and Mayor, Franziska Giffey, former Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, as well as industry experts such as Ali Niknam (CEO at bunq), Maximilian Tayenthal (CEO at N26), Matt Colebourne (Group CEO at Qwist GmbH), and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Wide range of topics at Berlin's largest fintech gathering
The focus was on fintech trends, venture capital developments, startup opportunities and challenges, founder stories, regulatory issues, the relevance of ESG criteria, and the geopolitical situation and its impacts. "In addition to high-profile speakers, our goal was to provide real value through thematic insights and dialogue-oriented formats. FIBE should be the class reunion for Europe's fintech and banking ecosystem, and it was exactly that," adds Lisa Dally, project lead FIBE. "Over the past two days, networking, discussions, and new discoveries took place on our festival grounds. Participants initially listened to interviews or panels on the Festival Stage and then moved to the Club Stage to ask the same speakers questions in a more intimate setting and to discuss certain topics in more detail. The response was consistently positive and confirmed our festival concept." High visitor satisfaction
On both days of the festival, a visitor survey was conducted. Nine out of ten respondents were very satisfied on both days and would recommend FIBE. In particular, the wide range of offerings received positive feedback from the visitors. The networking opportunities and conference program were rated particularly positively. Around 80% of respondents expressed a strong willingness to participate again in the next FIBE in 2025. The important exhibition goals, namely presenting the company and maintaining its image, were achieved, as well as reaching the relevant target audience in the fintech sector.  Co-Founder from Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, opening FIBE 2024 on the Festival Stage on April, 24 Partner Statements from FIBE 2024Pascal Norrenberg, Regional Manager DACH, Managing Director at eToro
“For the eToro group, we are present here. We are an international company. We are very happy about the fair so far. It’s a very international atmosphere, very modern and well-done everything. We liked the topics and we are very very happy. There could be a bit more people, but we acknowledge this is a first year and it’s a very good start. Very happy. Thank you.” Marie Seider - Event and Sales Manager at Holvi
“Super happy to be here today. It was super well organized, the masterclasses, the presentations. We got some insights on the market, banking innovations, and regulations. The connections were really good, networking, everyone coming here, wanted to talk, and was really happy to connect and network. Was a super experience and I hope to be here next year too. Thank you to the FIBE.” Rayissa Marning Armata, Director, Global Regulatory & Government Affairs at IDnow
“I am here at FIBE Berlin, it was great to be here. I hosted a Masterclass on KYC and the digital identity wallet with IDnow. It was great meeting all of you - thank you for attending our class, we had a great session with great feedback. We’d love to meet all of you. Please reach out to us if you have any questions. Thanks to FIBE.” Aryan Katoria, Consultant at Deloitte
“I think it’s been a great two days here. For example, specifically, something very new experience in the fintech sector, in terms of getting all the fintechs together in one place. We have been having discussions with them of course virtually and some physical meetings happening with them, but kind of having everyone together under one roof is also easier to reach out back and forth again and between different fintechs where we have different ideas, the sort of lag between communications has completely disappeared for that specific reason. And I think it’s definitely helped everyone here form some sort of relationship that will definitely pursue after these two days - and I think that was the main thing everyone was hoping for. And that’s been a success, for sure. It has been a great experience so far.” Sebastian Wolfmeier, Senior Business Development Manager FinTech at Visa
“It was fantastic to be part of the first FIBE here in Berlin. We really enjoyed two intense days. We met our clients, we met new partners. It was a fantastic event and we'd love to come next year.” Save the DateThe fintech festival FIBE will take place next year on April 9th and 10th at the CityCube of Messe Berlin. About Messe Berlin
Berlin has been a trade fair destination for 200 years, and has been one of the most important such hubs for many decades. Messe Berlin – the state’s own trade fair company – conceives, markets and organises hundreds of live events every year. It strives to be an outstanding host for visitors at all events, generate optimal business stimuli, and provide fair conditions for everyone. This concept is reflected in the company slogan: Messe Berlin – Hosting the World. www.messe-berlin.de About Handelsblatt
The Handelsblatt is the largest business and financial newspaper in German. Around 200 editors, correspondents, and permanent staff around the globe ensure up-to-date, comprehensive, and well-founded reporting. Compared to other daily newspapers, the daily business and financial newspaper is indispensable reading for decision-makers at the first and second management levels. According to the "Reader Analysis Decision-Makers in Business and Administration (LAE) 2022, the Handelsblatt reaches 1,025,000 top decision-makers every trading day. The Handelsblatt can be reached online at www.handelsblatt.com About Berlin Finance Initiative
The Berlin Finance Initiative (BFI) sees itself as the umbrella of Berlin's fintech ecosystem, uniting traditional banks and fintech companies. As the voice of Berlin's finance and technology industry, the BFI actively advocates for its diverse interests and strengthens ties to global markets. The BFI is a proud partner of de:hub FinTech Berlin and Germany Finance and was founded in 2020 by Achim Oelgarth and Caroline Wahl : www.berlin-finance-Initiative.de
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