QED Investors sees untapped potential and growth in the underserved silvertech market, which caters for the fastest-growing and wealthiest demographic of all, the 50s-70s.
Over the longer term, it will be supercharged by the erosion of loyalty and trust in big brand providers who have too long depended on the apathy of this demographic, overcharging them for financial products such as annuities and pensions, wealth management and insurance products. Regulation will play a part here, and is forthcoming apparent in the forbidding of financial providers from automatically renewing their insurance products.
Says Yusuf Ozdalga, London Partner at QED Investors;
“Silvertech has always been hard to define because it caters as much for attitudes as for ages. The irony is that most fintech founders want to improve society, iron out disparities and improve accessibility. But they tend to be more inclusive of people just like them, addressing issues they think apply mostly to 20 and 30 somethings, while too easily stereotyping anybody else”.
Yusuf sees massive potential not just in the creation of products exclusively for older people but in the tweaking, targeting and distribution of existing products. While some fintech founders are leading the field, such as QED investment Rest Less, a digitised community for the over 50s, others have yet to think laterally, either because they thought the over 50s were too hard an audience to crack, or because their thinking was too entrenched..
Digitised FX, insurance, digital banking and pensions innovations, for instance, are especially relevant to people in this demographic and can offer them huge cost savings, while accounting tools, paytech, credit scoring and lending are just as relevant to businesses owned by those retiring much later in life.
Says Yusuf Ozdalga;
“The digital divide is increasingly not about those with and without access to tech, but between innovators whose products apply to all age groups versus those that target people such as themselves, to the exclusion of certain demographics. The opportunity will come from the bridging of the two, and QED Investors has a strong track record of supporting entrepreneurs with well thought out business models that will actively cater to underserved segments of society.
About QED Investors
QED Investors is a global leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, Va. Founded by Nigel Morris and Frank Rotman in 2007, QED Investors is focused on investing in early stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K., Latin America and Southeast Asia. QED Investors is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages our partners’ decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping their companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable investments include Credit Karma, ClearScore, Nubank, SoFi, Avant, Remitly, GreenSky, Klarna, QuintoAndar, Loft, Konfio, Creditas, AvidXchange, Current and Mission Lane.
Yusuf Ozdalga
Yusuf is London based Partner at QED Investors with a focus on UK and European Fintech and Proptech companies. Yusuf joined QED in 2017, and his career has spanned roles as an operator, advisor, entrepreneur and investor. His current portfolio of investments include Wagestream, Fidel API, Capitalise, Rest Less, Wayflyer, Weavr, GetGround, and Payhawk. Yusuf started his career at Capital One in 1997 and subsequently joined the Financial Institutions M&A Group at JPMorgan in 2003. He started his professional investing career in 2006 with a focus on specialty finance and consumer credit companies in Europe, and was most recently an Investment Director with a growth private equity fund prior to joining QED. Yusuf holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with High Honors, and a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce with a dual concentration in Finance and MIS. Yusuf is fluent in English, Swedish, and Turkish and has a working knowledge of German.
