Only 1.5% of global fintech firms are founded solely by women, and receive just 1% of total fintech funding, despite the sector receiving nearly $200bn in VC investment over the past 10 years. Why is there a gap?
In this special edition of Fintech Founders, CFTE Co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen was joined by Marieke Flament (CEO, NEAR Foundation), Bianca Lopes (Co-Founder, Talle), Ronit Ghose (Global Head of Fintech & Digital, Citi Global Insights), and Gaurav Dhar (CEO, Marshal Equipment & Trading Co. LLC; MENA Fintech Association Board Member), exploring how diversity can bring innovation and creativity to fintech, and how the industry can support gender parity.
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Understand how diversity can bring innovation and creativity to fintech
Learn how gender diversity can be supported and encouraged in the fintech ecosystem
Gain insights on how skills and education can help diverse talent thrive in fintech
Tram Anh Nguyen is Co-Founder of CFTE, a global education platform in digital finance, and Chairwoman of Global Women in AI. Before launching CFTE in 2017, she spent nearly two decades in wealth management at Standard Chartered, Dresdner Kleinwort and UBS, advising ultra-high-net-worth clients and family offices.
She co-authored the world's largest Fintech Job Report and founded the Future Skills Forum, convening policymakers, educators and industry leaders to advance human capital transformation in the age of AI. She also serves as a Board Advisor of the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN) by MAS Singapore, an Entrepreneurship Expert at Oxford's Saïd Business School, an Industry Fellow at Imperial College, and co-Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore's Fintech and Finance Committee.
Under her leadership, CFTE has educated over 260,000 alumni across 130+ countries, partnering with governments, regulators and financial institutions worldwide on large-scale reskilling programmes.
Marieke Flament is CEO at NEAR Foundation, driving the growth of the NEAR Protocol and its Web3 ecosystem. Her work explores diversity in fintech, and how bringing more women into the industry sparks creativity, innovation and stronger outcomes across the sector.
She brings extensive leadership experience across fintech and blockchain, championing the case for gender parity as both a matter of fairness and a driver of industry innovation.
Bianca Lopes is Co-Founder of Talle, working at the intersection of identity, technology and inclusion. Her work explores how diversity brings creativity and innovation to the fintech industry, and how skills and education can help underrepresented talent thrive.
She brings deep expertise in identity technology and inclusion strategy, helping shape a more diverse and innovative fintech ecosystem.
Gaurav Dhar is a recurring co-host of CFTE's Fintech and Web3 Founders series, interviewing founders and investors shaping the future of fintech and Web3 alongside Ronit Ghose. His work focuses on exploring venture capital trends, founder journeys, and the evolving fintech and Web3 ecosystem.
He brings a consistent, informed voice to conversations with leading founders and investors across the fintech and crypto landscape.
