Hello friends! Axel from Gilion here.
Despite summer vibes in most of Europe, markets seem more active than ever, so let’s dig in!
Is AI a Net Positive for Profitability in Banking?
Citi’s head of fintech research, Ronit Ghose, recently released a report on the impact of AI on banking that has garnered significant media attention. I had the pleasure of sharing a panel with Ronit last week, where we discussed his theory that AI will lead to major job cuts across the banking sector.
The report projects a remarkable profit surge for the banking industry, with AI-driven strategies potentially increasing total banking profits by 9%, from just over $1.8 trillion to nearly $2 trillion by 2028.
At Gilion, we've observed that while AI eliminates some manual processes, it often allows time to be reinvested into better customer experiences and deeper due diligence.
M&A is Ripe Across Europe - Time to Harvest
We’ve frequently discussed M&A opportunities for tech companies, emphasizing it as a vastly overlooked growth engine for scaleups. This week, one of my favorite Swedish scaleups, Lifesum, announced their acquisition of the German biomarker-based nutrition company Lykon.
This acquisition is a perfect example of the untapped potential within many B2C SaaS companies with large user bases. Lifesum, which offers nutritional advice to its 65 million customers, can now deepen the user experience and potentially add multiple new revenue streams.
Such strategic moves and pivots are exactly what we need to see more of in European tech.
Are Letter Rounds Still the Best Framework for Startup Milestones?
In the world of equity and debt fundraising, we're often asked to define our company and offerings through various equity rounds, from pre-seed to B and C. Initially, I thought this process was straightforward, but it’s far more nuanced.
At Gilion, we've navigated this landscape with rounds like our “seed extension round.” The predictability of rounds seems distant, especially when considering instances like Chicago-based biotech company Xaira Therapeutics launching a $1 billion Series A round.
Pitchbook recently published a great piece on redefining rounds to specific phases. Read more here.
In our ecosystem, rounds appear to be happening more smoothly now compared to six months ago, with companies favoring top-up rounds over transitioning from A to B.
Customer highlight
Oscar Werner joins ARRtist on Air
Tune in to an insightful episode of the ARRtist on Air Podcast featuring a great conversation between our CEO, Oscar Werner, and Jannis Bandorski. Discover the strategies behind scaling world-leading B2B CPaaS Sinch from $300 million to $3 billion in revenue, and learn from Oscar's journey.
🔍 Key Takeaways:
Scaling Success: From growing Tobii Dynavox’s revenue from $20M to $120M, and to catapulting Sinch from $300M to $3B as CEO.
Building Revenue Organizations: Proven tactics for building a high-performing revenue team.
Leading Gilion: Oscar's vision for making Gillion the top player in growth loans for tech companies.
Lessons Learned: Honest insights on successes, mistakes, and valuable lessons.
🎧 Listen HERE and get inspired by Oscar Werner's incredible journey and thoughts on the future of tech funding.
We’re gonna go on a short summer hiatus, but we will be back in August ready to explore the ever-evolving landscape of technology and its financial ecosystem.
/Axel
