Tilman Ehrbeck Discusses Three Waves of Fintech Innovation

In this video profile by the EU Supervisory Digital Finance Academy, Tilman Ehrbeck, co-founder and managing partner at Flourish Ventures, explores how fintech has evolved over the past 15 years, highlighting both its successes and challenges. He breaks down three major waves of innovation: the rise of consumer-focused fintechs like challenger banks, the shift towards B2B fintech infrastructure and embedded finance, and the uncertain future of emerging technologies like blockchain and generative AI in financial services. While fintech has transformed the industry, not all innovations have lived up to expectations. Ehrbeck shares key lessons from evaluating thousands of startups, offering a pragmatic perspective on where fintech is headed and how to separate real value from hype.

The EU-SDFA is a TSI flagship initiative aimed at supporting financial supervisory authorities in coping with the risks and opportunities associated to the use of advanced technologies in the financial sector.