In this live episode of The Connector Podcast recorded at the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF), host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews Alexandra (representing FinTech Belgium) and Alex (representing Luxembourg’s LHoFT). The conversation explores three main themes: (1) the unique global perspective offered by SFF, where all continents converge and Asian fintech innovation feels ahead of Europe; (2) the structures and missions of the two organisations – FinTech Belgium’s member‑based advocacy and ecosystem‑building versus LHoFT’s government‑backed incubator model that supports 87 firms, runs acceleration programmes (including a dedicated green‑fintech track), and partners with asset managers, banks and insurers; (3) the rapid rise of sustainability and ESG in fintech, highlighted by Singapore’s Monetary Authority (MAS) creating a dedicated ESG village and Luxembourg’s Sustainable Finance Initiative, contrasted with the relative lack of regulator‑led VC activity in Europe. The guests stress the importance of cross‑Benelux collaboration, noting complementary strengths (Belgium’s larger B2C market, Luxembourg’s B2B financial centre) and existing MOUs with the Singapore FinTech Association. They conclude with personal takeaways: the need for European humility, the value of Asian innovation, and the belief that attending SFF is essential to grasp the future of finance.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Koen Vanderhoydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Hello everyone and welcome directly live from Singapore FinTech Festival, and I have 2 very special guests with me. Alexandra and Alex, how do you like the FinTech Festival?
I personally love it. I find it incredibly vibrant. The whole community, the whole world is here. It's incredibly exciting and vibrant.
It sounds so. What about you, Alex?
Indeed, yes. It's the biggest FinTech Festival in the world. I'm not sure about the numbers, if we reach the 60,000, but if there is one event you cannot miss, It's this one during the year, is this one, if you are in fintech at least, or finance.
What is then the difference between all the European festivals that we usually go to?
I would say is the, the fact that all the continents are represented here. And if you want to have a step into Asia, it's very, it's incredible. Just Singapore as an island is like a window of the whole region, and you can feel it in the halls here. With the people that you meet. Excellent.
What about you, Alex?
Yeah, indeed. I mean, it also broadens your perspective about what's going on in the world of fintech, given that you see so many continents, so many innovations, so many companies. The fintech conference we have in Europe is mainly European companies, and we like in Europe to think we are the best. When I travel to US or Canada, you have mainly US or Canadian companies, and they they think they are the best. But man, we are so, so wrong. Yeah, because here you see the vibration, you see the future. People are asking me all the time, what's the future of finance, Alex? The future of finance is already the present, and it's happening in Asia. So if you really want to grasp what's the future of finance in Europe, you come here.
Yeah.
And it also humbles you. makes us more, you know, humble regarding innovation, how good we are in Europe because they are so, so ahead of us.
It is very inspirational indeed.
Yeah. Yeah.
And because you're both actually also organizers of events, but that's not all what you do. Maybe you could also explain the audience a little bit what you both do at Belgium Fintech and at The Loft.
Fintech Belgium, we are— we represent like 130 members of fintechs, 100 from Belgium and 30 from abroad. And what we do is we foster innovation, basically. And I think that Alex can join me on that. The Loft is doing exactly the same thing. We just do things differently. We promote our members, we represent them towards the regulator. We do this at a European and at a Belgian level. And we make the magic happen in Belgium, basically, by sharing information, sharing best cases and experience.
Okay. And Luxembourg?
So we are a bit different in the sense that, yes, we aggregate, let's say, foster the community around fintech. So we are incubator. We incubate around 87 firms today. We might be the biggest fintech incubator in Europe, to be honest. Yeah. Now that UK is not European anymore. But, and we do many acceleration programs, be it for scale-ups, early-stage companies, companies or financial inclusion companies from Africa. We have a special dedicated program. But what we are as a foundation, given that we are public and private, backed by the government of Luxembourg and 22 private partners, mainly asset managers, banks, and insurance companies, we are looking for innovation in the fashion industry. So we are like a facilitator of innovation. So when banks have a request and a need, they contact us. Same thing for the asset managers and insurance. But yes, we help fintechs, but the goal is in the end fostering innovation in the financial industry.
Makes sense. Now, earlier you were saying that you feel innovation thriving at this festival. The theme of this year is sustainability, ESG. But how does that actually resonate to the local programs that you run?
You know, we, we try to have an acceleration program for green fintech for a few years, but we always thought We were not ready in the sense that we don't have enough fintechs in Europe to run such a program. We start having now a lot of fintechs in green finance, in sustainable finance. We have Greenomi from Belgium, we have Lynx AI from Portugal, in Luxembourg that are very good, and many others that I'm so proud also from Belgium, but many others that I may be forgetting. But here I'm really shocked because there are so many good companies worldwide and mainly Asians that are in the sustainable finance industry. I mean, I just talked with 3, and the major investors is the MAS. I don't know many regulators in Europe who invest as a VC in ESG companies.
It's amazing, isn't it?
It's mind-blowing. The MAS has provided a full village. It's not even a pavilion, a village for ESG companies who they are investing in or they are working with. And I've just looked at maybe 15. I don't even have the time to do all of them.
It's half a hall here.
Yes, half a hall is just ESG companies that MAS, so the regulator, the local regulator, is working with. Imagine. I don't know many regulators in Europe who understand that, you know. I don't know what you think, Alessandra.
The same thing as you. I mean, we are— I mean, you are already— you have your government with you, which enables you to do a lot of things for the fintech community in general at a European level. And we are struggling doing this at the Belgian level because we are not supported. So yeah, I think the magic happens when the government realizes the importance of it.
Yeah. So the government in Luxembourg, so the Ministry of Finance launched an initiative, it's called the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative. And it's, let's say, like a foundation that helps enterprises, be it banking or the non-financial industry, to be more sustainable. I mean, the carbon footprint calculation, stuff like that. But it's nothing, nothing compared to what I've seen here. Yeah, again, they are so ahead. And in Europe, we like to look at ourselves all the time. Still this maybe colonialistic syndrome we have, think we are the best and we're gonna preach what's the best in the world. But man, I mean, you just have to come here for 3 days and then you—
it changes perspective, right?
Yeah, exactly. But it's also the fact that every time I speak with incumbents, the main message is that, yeah, we are good, we're fine. We don't need— of course we need innovation to evolve, but it's not like if you ask them, because we are launching also incubation and acceleration in Belgium. And the main question that we have is we're asking, okay, tell us your challenges and we'll be working on that. We will bring the whole, you know, all the stakeholders needed to tackle this challenge around the table, users.
Mm-hmm.
as you said, as facilitator for innovation. And it's like, we don't really have that many challenges, and, or, or it's going to be, you know, an effort to, to identify them. And there we are there for that as well. But, uh, here I'm— we had a visit, uh, of the DBS Innovation Lab, and it was just mind-blowing how they treat innovation internally. It's completely horizontal. They have a team of 7 heads that are completely spread over all the departments. And it's really another view on innovation. It's really impressive and inspiring.
I don't know if you know, but it's also due to the MAS because they're not only organizing this event, but they also by law forced all the banks to have an innovation lab.
Yeah, but that's—
It's a completely different mindset, right?
Absolutely.
So I think we need to collaborate with them.
Yeah, definitely.
We are actually. We have an MOU with the Singapore FinTech Association as well.
I mean, you as a connector, you've been in almost all the fintech conferences in the world. What do you think personally?
Reverse interviewing by Alex.
No, but it would be good to have your input.
No, no, I've been here in 2019 and I'm back this year. I think that tells it all. This is the place to be. This is where you get your new insights. This is where you make a lot of connections. Even not talking about the fintech itself, it's the mentality that amongst people is so much different. You go to a bar and you immediately start speaking to anyone, CEO, CFO, it doesn't matter. They're all open for collaboration. Yeah, and that's just amazing.
Yeah, the mindset.
Yeah, but collaborating, so you said there is an MOU with the fintech association here locally, but amongst yourself there is a lot of collaboration.
Too much collaboration.
Yeah, we do. We are very complementary. I keep saying it. I was on stage yesterday and I said it as well. We are 2 small countries and we don't work the same way. And I mean, your ecosystem is more international corporates, lots of them are there, whereas we have a bigger Slightly, because when you see the world, it's still a tiny country. But we still have a testing market which is considerable for a testing market in Europe, which is not the case in Luxembourg. And I will leave you to say why to come to you.
No, no, you're right. I mean, on the B2C market, you are much better because you are bigger. On the B2B, I mean, we are the financial industry in Europe. Financial center, so we are very complementary and we are close by, so it makes sense to work together. And some of your members are our members, and some of our members are your members.
So, and you can almost think further if you take Holland with there, the real Benelux. Yes, the Netherlands has a different type of financial industry.
Indeed, yeah. That's why we have many events, join webinars and conferences together as a Benelux. industry.
Makes sense, makes sense.
And also to have our voice heard in Europe, because you have those big markets— Germany, France, Spain, Italy— with whom we are collaborating a lot. Don't get me wrong, the Nordics, they have their own stuff, but we need also to have some kind of representation. So working together makes us stronger.
Yeah, the Benelux has— yeah, makes sense again, whereas it has been forgotten as a word for, I don't know, decades, I would say. And you can feel that there's a something going on.
Are we going to talk politics, Alexandra?
No, it's just that you can feel that the Benelux is a story that works and people, the ecosystems like to work together. And when we organize an event, you can see that there's again this vibrant vibe about it all.
So it makes sense. I feel it too. So I can only say that this That's my personal view too. We're now getting closer to the end of our podcast. So if you would say one thing that you've learned here, or one impression that you share with you when going home from the Singapore FinTech Festival, what would that be?
I'd go back to what we said, is like, if you want to know about innovation, about the future of finance, just come here because you're going to be, yeah, mind-blown.
So you will be back next year?
Absolutely, and will be more.
Will be more. Excellent.
Just like we— the first time I came was 2019 before the COVID I'm here again this year because you cannot miss it. What I'm— what I miss with our delegation is maybe the corporates, maybe our own regulator that came with us 3 years ago but could not come. I think every corporate, everybody in the finance industry in Luxembourg and in Europe They have to come here to see what's going on and what will come. So if I have learned something again, is we should have more humility in Europe and really, really pay attention to Asia because we look a lot towards the US. But again, that's if the sun is, you know, rising here, it's for a reason.
On that bombshell, I would like to thank you both for your participation and your insights. It was a pleasure to have you in this podcast.
Thank you, Koen.
You are the best. Thank you.
I will turn that back to you, Alex.
Thank you so much, brother.
So also, thank you to all the listeners and tuning into this podcast of The Connector. So please do follow us and you hear more about fintech in the world. Thank you so much.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
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