ABN AMRO is increasing its investment fund for promising fintech companies from €100 million to €150 million. The fund called ABN AMRO Ventures is constantly looking for opportunities to commit to applications that can make a difference of for banks and its customers in the future.
The investment fund was established in 2016 under the name Digital Impact Fund. These were the years when fintech was still seen as a huge threat to banks. In the guise of neo-banks, that has partly come true, but at least as often, instead of being a "challenger," fintech has turned out to be an "enabler. Banks and fintech companies have entered into a kind of armed peace on multiple levels, realizing that they can both prosper by taking advantage of each other's capabilities.
As recently as 2018, ABN AMRO was among the most active European banks in fintech investments. In the period since, ABN AMRO has continued to invest lustily in new technologies, bringing the number of holdings now to 15. That will have been part of the reason for doubling the fund from €50 million to €100 million, at the same time renaming it ABN AMRO Ventures. Now even that no longer seems sufficient, so another €50 million is being added.
"It is wonderful to see how we can really contribute with the fund to the bank's digital strategy as well as to the development of the often young innovative companies we invest in," says Frank Verkerk, chief digital officer ABN AMRO and chairman of the investment committee ABN AMRO Ventures. "We do this by connecting the innovative power of these (fin)tech companies directly to concrete customer or banking processes within ABN AMRO. The investments and cooperation with our portfolio companies also give us unique access to technology and talent."
