Episode Summary: Akash Bajwa, Augmentum Ventures

Podcast: The Investor With Joel Palathinkal
Host: Dr. Joel Palathinkal
Episode Date: September 13, 2025

Overview

In this season finale, Dr. Joel Palathinkal hosts Akash Bajwa of Augmentum Ventures to discuss Akash’s unconventional journey into venture capital, the evolving fintech landscape, and key differences between the UK, European, and US VC markets. Akash shares deep insights on breaking into VC, investment trends in fintech, the impact of open banking, and practical career advice for future allocators and fintech enthusiasts.

Akash Bajwa’s Journey into Venture Capital

[00:20 – 09:57]

• Background & Upbringing

  • Born in Germany to Indian immigrant parents; later moved to Canada, then UK.
  • Parents did not have traditional finance backgrounds, shaping a self-directed career path.
  • Early interest in online gaming, which initially distracted from academics.

• Academic and Professional Trajectory

  • Shifted focus toward accounting and finance in late teens due to perceived career stability.
  • Interned at Deloitte (audit) and joined Barclays Wealth Management’s graduate scheme.
  • Rotated into Barclays Ventures, a new corporate venture arm: “I was completely ignorant about tech and VC...I would know as much as the layperson who’s seen Silicon Valley.” [02:58]
  • Cold-emailed funds offering free work to break into VC, ultimately landing at CAS Entrepreneurship Fund after persistent outreach.

• First VC Role and Move to Augmentum

  • Started at CAS, a £10M seed fund, gaining foundational VC experience.
  • Transitioned to Augmentum Ventures, which focuses on Series A+ European fintech and is a publicly listed, permanently capitalized fund.
  • Noted unique fund structure: “We’re the only listed fund sector focused on fintech in Europe...We have a permanent capital vehicle.” [08:53]

Breaking Into VC: Candid Advice

[09:57 – 15:56]

• Emphasizes sector knowledge and intrinsic curiosity over just financial modeling, especially at Series A/B funds.

  • “They’re really looking for you to demonstrate...just how much depth there is in your thinking.” [12:01]
  • Importance of demonstrating unique value-add or “alpha” for the team (eg., expertise in an underrepresented area like crypto).

• Practical Interview Prep Tips:

  • Be actively engaged with the industry — read daily, develop authentic interests, and articulate unique perspectives.
  • Expect case studies, investment memos, and deep-dive questions about sector interests and portfolio companies.

Memorable Quote:
“If you really want to get in like you’ll have to go the extra mile.” [05:54]

Augmentum's Structure & Investment Process

[15:56 – 19:57]

• Publicly Listed VC Fund

  • Augmentum is listed on the stock exchange, periodically raising capital and recycling exits into new investments, avoiding the need to harvest exits on a strict timeline.

• Comparisons with Corporate VC

  • Contrasts Augmentum’s nimble process to bureaucratic approval chains in corporate VC arms like Barclays.
  • Augmentum’s investment committee (IC) is lean, meets weekly, and accelerates decision-making to keep pace with live rounds.

Notable Quote:
“If a deal is...in a live round situation, you can’t have something in limbo for too long because a round will close by the time you’re back from holiday...” [18:22]

Evolving Investment Theses & Fintech Learnings

[19:57 – 27:45]

• Shifting Perspectives Through Experience
  • Direct founder conversations often challenge assumptions formed from research or media.
  • Example from insurance/insurtech: Early conviction that digital-first insurers would revolutionize the sector, later tempered by lessons about customer acquisition costs and difficulties in cross-selling.

Notable Story:
“It’s very easy to think that the neo insurers are clearly going to take over the market...but it’s just not that easy. Actually acquiring customers profitably is hard.” [24:25]

• Talks on Insurtech and Market Realities
  • Highlights how incumbent priorities don’t always align with startup value propositions, as process improvements don’t necessarily drive big business changes for legacy firms.

Macro Trends and Sector Deep-Dive: Fintech’s Frontier

[27:45 – 36:42]

• Macro Observations

  • Fintech is the highest-valued sector in private markets globally (China’s Ant Financial, Latam’s Nubank, Europe’s Klarna, US’s Stripe).
  • Funding is moving toward later-stage, with $100M+ mega-rounds signaling a maturing ecosystem.
  • Robust early-stage activity persists, though slightly off the 2018 peak.

• Emerging Themes

  • Decentralized Finance (DeFi):

    • “Decentralized finance is not incremental at all. It’s revolutionary...you’re able to borrow, lend, invest, pay, insure without any intermediary.” [30:33]
    • Value locked in DeFi protocols grew from $1B to $15B and over a million users within a year.

  • Embedded Finance:

    • Financial products being built into non-financial platforms (e.g., lending via Strava or retail brands).
    • Stripe’s “Treasury” product (with Shopify, Goldman Sachs) allows platforms to offer checking, lending—huge potential for loyalty and stickiness.
      • “Their partner at the moment with Shopify and Treasury will allow Shopify to offer their merchants financial services products such as a checking account...” [35:20]

Comparing US, UK, and European VC Ecosystems

[37:59 – 43:33]

• Talent and Price Gaps

  • US: More operator-turned-investors; much more capital; higher valuations (“...US based company was valued at like five times multiple of the UK based company.” [39:29])
  • Europe: Regulation fosters a friendlier climate for fintech innovation; lower company valuations but per capita fintech strength.

• Challenges with Expansion and Regulation

  • Europe: Scaling across countries is harder due to fragmented regulations.
  • US: Single regulatory regime helps scaling.
  • Cultural difference—Europe is slightly more critical in media and public discourse about homegrown startups.

What’s Next in Fintech?

[43:57 – 50:29]

• Pain Points Remain:

  • Cross-border payments remain expensive and slow even in 2025.
  • Huge opportunities in investment management/roboadvisory—millions still have savings, not investments.

• Open Banking & Account-to-Account Payments

  • EU’s PSD2 and Open Banking APIs allow instant, low-fee bank-to-bank payments.
  • “Instead of Visa and Mastercard being an intermediary...you would pay directly from your Barclays account to that merchant’s HSBC account and it would be real time settlement...” [47:09]
  • Augmentum recently invested in “Vault,” a company building these rails.

• 91% of revenue still goes to incumbents—huge headroom for disruption.

Rapid Fire: Payments Innovation & Personal Advice

[50:29 – 56:54]

• Contactless Payments & Technology Adoption

  • US historically lagged in contactless adoption (only 3% in 2018 vs 64% UK, 96% S. Korea), but COVID accelerated uptake.
  • Cultural, not just technical, lag—trust and habits matter; “...it’s not a technology problem...it’s more of a problem when it comes to the attitudes of the population.” [53:34]

• Mentor’s Advice: Work as Identity

  • Advice (inspired by Atomic Habits): “If you begin to associate your work with your identity, it can really change the way you think about your day to day life...” [54:06]
  • Work-life harmony vs. balance—VC is not a 9-5, but a lifestyle and identity. (Jeff Bezos reference)

Audience Q&A: Open Banking’s Future

[58:06 – 62:37]

• Open Banking/Finance
  • Use-cases: Identity verification, account aggregation, seamless payments, income verification.
  • Future: “Open Finance” will connect all financial data—pension pots, investments, assets—across platforms and employers. “...if you imagine just open finance, where everything in your financial services life can speak to each other, that’s like the future. And I believe that’s here to come.” [61:47]

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• “I was completely ignorant about tech and VC...I would know as much as the layperson who’s seen Silicon Valley.” — Akash [02:58]
• “They’re really looking for you to demonstrate...just how much depth there is in your thinking.” — Akash [12:01]
• “If you really want to get in like you’ll have to go the extra mile.” — Akash [05:54]
• “We’re the only listed fund sector focused on fintech in Europe...We have a permanent capital vehicle.” — Akash [08:53]
• “Decentralized finance is not incremental at all. It’s revolutionary...” — Akash [30:33]
• “...you would pay directly from your Barclays account to that merchant’s HSBC account and it would be real time settlement...” — Akash [47:09]
• “If you begin to associate your work with your identity, it can really change the way you think about your day to day life...” — Akash [54:06]

Key Takeaways

• VC is an opaque, competitive industry; breaking in requires tenacity, genuine sector interest, and networking.
• Fintech remains the most lucrative and disruptive sector worldwide, with DeFi and embedded finance as leading trends.
• Open banking is set to revolutionize not just payments, but the very nature of financial data and service interoperability.
• European fintech’s strengths lie in regulatory innovation, but face challenges in scaling and media scrutiny compared to US counterparts.
• Advice for future investors: Make your professional identity part of your DNA; the best in VC are always “on,” and authenticity and curiosity set great candidates apart.