Finboot is a leading software innovation group creating enterprise-level products.
Founded in 2016, with presence in London and Barcelona, Finboot has become one of the first tech startups to deliver value in the enterprise blockchain arena and overall distributed ledger ecosystem. Here are some excerpts from the Interview with one of the Co-founders of Finboot, Mr. Nish Kotecha.
How do you define the term Regtech?
We define Regtech as technology that facilitates and enhances regulatory processes. While it was initially established within the Financial Services sector, it now has applications across multiple industries. We see blockchain as a particularly powerful regulatory technology since once data is stored here, it cannot be changed, deleted or tampered with, which is why it has been referred to as the “trust platform”.
Who are the critical players in your journey to build the successful Regtech company?
There are 13 people in the Finboot team, all of whom are critical to our success, whether they are in product design or sales. Between us, we have some 36 years of software experience, over 40 years in business building and four PhDs, so we know we have the right team in place to succeed in the enterprise blockchain industry.
Brief overview about your product/service offering?
Our flagship product MARCO is a unique production-ready suite of blockchain applications and middleware solutions that revolutionise slow, analogue and opaque value and supply chains to make them more efficient, more secure, transparent and auditable, so that businesses are able to respond to ever-increasing regulatory and market scrutiny. MARCO is blockchain-agnostic and has been specifically designed to enable quick configuration for multiple use cases and rapid deployment so that enterprises can experiment with blockchain and then integrate it within their business processes efficiently and effectively. Use cases include invoice reconciliation in airport logistics, traceability and quality control in downstream Oil & Gas, and the verification of mineral origins in artisanal mining to ensure that it’s not funding conflict or child labor.
What inspired you to build the above product?
My co-founders and I were very interested in blockchain from following bitcoin. We saw an opportunity to build a business around blockchain technology, as we felt there were multiple business areas that could benefit from its application – particularly supply and value chains.
What do you think is the future of Blockchain Technology?
We strongly believe that blockchain will change how businesses operate for years to come, with exponential benefits to those that adopt it. So you get an excellent return on investment. We believe there is particular opportunity for products such as MARCO, which we refer to as “middleware”. It is the key software connection between applications, data, and users. For organizations with multi-cloud and containerized environments, middleware can make it cost effective to develop and run applications at scale.
It can be challenging for some organizations to find a practical approach to blockchain that delivers value and accelerates ROI. However, MARCO is flexible enough to adapt to emerging trends and technologies as well as work with companies’ existing infrastructure. Today, over 75% of CIOs consider blockchain a strategic priority or mission critical technology (Wipro). With large enterprises spending an average of US$ 1m in 2019 (Deloitte) – so it is no passing phase.
What was the most challenging aspect of your journey as the Chairman of Finboot?
Finboot has operations in both Barcelona and London. In order to increase our commercial opportunities, so a challenge for them has been to maintain team cohesion across borders. They used to travel a lot pre-COVID.They were rarely in the same office as the rest of the team. It’s absolutely crucial that everyone is on the same page, wherever we are the in the world. So they have daily calls to ensure everyone is up to speed. With what is going on in all areas of the business.
Where do you see yourself in the next three years?
Finboot thinks that they would be the leader in enterprise blockchain space within 3 years. Having even larger global customer base across multiple sectors. Presently, our main focus is on the Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Agritech and Consumer Goods industries, as well as Financial Services, where we see particular opportunity to embed blockchain in regulatory processes to deliver transparency and compliance.
Which countries do you feel you can expand to with your offerings?
Currently, our customers are predominantly based in Europe. It can help companies wherever they are based in the world.
