Berlin Strengthens Position as a Fintech Capital: New Festival FIBE in April 2024

Messe Berlin is expanding its portfolio. On April 24th and 25th, 2024, the City-Cube Congress arena will host the Fintech Festival FIBE for the first time. This was announced by the trade fair company, the Berlin Finance Initiative (BFI), and the “Handelsblatt” as a partner of the festival in the “Alice Rooftop & Garden”. More than 1000 participants are expected.

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FIBE is composed of the words “Fintech” and “Berlin”

Fintech stands for “Financial Technology” and describes companies that sell technology-based financial instruments and services. A fintech ecosystem has developed in Berlin in recent years. More than 250 companies employ around 9000 people. The industry is the second largest startup sector in the capital after information and telecommunications.

FIBE had gathered the key players for the evening event. Among the guests were the minds behind Trade Republic, N26, Mambu, and Solaris – all Berlin unicorns, i.e. companies with a market valuation of more than one billion euros. Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) also came and felt visibly at ease among the bankers and entrepreneurs. “What we are seeing here is a look through the keyhole, which is just the beginning,” the senator said. “We want to become the forefront of the movement and one of the most important financial centers in Europe.”

FIBE is intended to be a dialog-oriented platform that brings together players from the old and new worlds of finance

Dirk Hoffmann, CEO of Messe Berlin, called Berlin the “place to be for fintech companies in Germany and Europe.” “Our goal is to make FIBE the signature event for the fintech ecosystem in Europe,” Hoffmann said.

A short promotional clip informed the audience about the program of the two-day festival. Aimlessly, buzzwords in English tumbled across the screen – “creation,” “benefit,” “create the future,” and “connect.” The speakers then explained what this meant: FIBE is intended to be a dialog-oriented platform that brings together players from the old and new worlds of finance. It would be informal, a combination of “business and lifestyle”. “I see a beer, I see a cool Dj, we want to bring that lifestyle into fintech,” said Lisa Dally, the festival’s project manager.

The industry can use a good mood. The turnaround in interest rates is making loans more expensive and depressing the willingness of investors to invest. Berlin’s fintech companies also felt the effects in 2022. Although they raised around 1.2 billion euros, it was significantly less than in the previous year. At that time, more than three times that amount had flowed into their pockets.

Joachim Wuermeling, a board member of the Bundesbank, praised the conditions for fintech companies in the capital: “If I were a founder and I asked myself where do I want to grow, I wouldn’t think for a minute: Berlin, of course, not Frankfurt.”

When asked if there was also something to criticize in Berlin, Achim Oelgarth, co-founder of the BFI, answered. He would like to see a one-stop store, i.e. a portal that enables the founding of a company in 24 hours. At the moment, this takes several months in Berlin, he said. He also hopes that the universities will focus more on the financial sector. Frankfurt is clearly outstripping Berlin in this respect.

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(Featured image by  karlherl via Pixabay)

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First published in TAGESSPIEGEL, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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