Upgrade, Zopa, Starling Bank, Harvard and 10x Future Technologies Confirmed as Speakers at LendIt Europe

LendIt Europe has confirmed its key note speakers for this years’ event. More than 120 speakers will take to the stage with expertise spanning banking, lending, technology and regulation. The two-day conference will offer a combination of keynote speeches, interactive panel discussions, and LendIt’s “PitchIt” competition, where eight of the best startups in fintech will have the opportunity to pitch their business to some of the biggest VCs in the industry. Keynote speeches will be covering a variety of topics, from the future of online lending and its role in fintech, to how banks are approaching the new connected world, while the interactive panel discussions will span investing in Europe, and the future of fintech partnerships. The conference’s extensive speaker line-up includes:

• Antony Jenkins, Founder and Executive Chair at 10x Future Technologies

Antony was group CEO of Barclays plc for three years until July 2015. Since then he has turned his experienced hand to the tech sector, launching 10x Future Technologies, an alternative banking company seeking to change the way banks serve their customers. Antony is also Group Chairman of Currencies Direct, the leading UK non-bank provider of foreign exchange and international payment services, and board member of Blockchain.

• Anne Boden, CEO and Founder of Starling Bank

Starling Bank is one of the leading digital and mobile-only banks in the UK. Anne has more than 30 years’ experience in banking and has been working on the idea for Starling since 2004. She will be speaking on our keynote panel looking at the digitisation of finance, and how customer expectations are changing. She will provide her perspective on the different expectations younger customers have when it comes to banking.

• Jaidev Janadarna, CEO of Zopa Jaidev built his extensive knowledge of the lending landscape with more than ten years at Capital One. He has since been at the helm of Zopa, the world’s first peer-to-peer lending service, for the last four years, taking the original peer-to-peer lending startup from strength to strength.
• Karen Mills, Senior Fellow at the Harvard Business School

Karen was a member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, serving as the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration from 2009 to 2013. She has produced numerous white papers on small business lending in the US. She will be speaking on the state of the US lending market on the main stage where she will provide perspective on the US small business lending category.

• Renaud Laplanche, Co-Founder & CEO of Upgrade Renaud founded Lending Club in the USA in 2006. As CEO, he guided the largest platform through an IPO of over $20 billion. His second act is Upgrade, where he raised a $60 million Series A earlier this year - the largest ever Series A for a fintech company in the US. He will be giving the opening keynote on day two of LendIt Europe where he will be discussing the future of online lending and its role in the fintech industry.

Taking place on 9-10th October at the O2 in London, LendIt Europe unites global influencers, and provokes cutting edge debate on European fintech and lending with an international perspective. Peter Renton, Chairman & Co-Founder of LendIt Conference: “The speakers who’ll be leading the talks at LendIt this year offer a phenomenal range of expertise in a variety of different industries within the fintech space. The speeches will cover some of the most critical issues for fintech, at a time when we’re seeing plenty of change within the sector as a whole.” Eugene Danilkis, Co-Founder & CEO of Mambu: “Innovation has never been more important in the fintech sector, and the growing diversity of technology available means that getting a view of the full landscape is crucial. By bringing together these diverse senior executives, as well as active successful startups, LendIt offers an insightful and unique perspective on the fintech and lending industry across Europe.” Jaidev Janadarna, CEO of Zopa: “The fintech industry continues to grow by raising the bar on product design and customer experience. Zopa is proud to be on the forefront of driving this change. We look forward to finding out at LendIt how other businesses are navigating the sector.”