Building Europe’s Investment Rails with Martin Kassing, Founder & CEO @ Upvest

Happy Wednesday from James Pringle, Hector Mason and the Riding Unicorns team!

We’re thrilled to welcome Martin Kassing, Founder & CEO of Upvest, to this week’s episode of Riding Unicorns! 🚀🦄🎙️

Martin’s path from private equity to FinTech startups led him to launch one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech infrastructure platforms Upvest.

Upvest has raised over $200m from the likes of Hedosophia, Notion Capital, HV Capital, Earlybird Venture Capital, BlackRock, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

And includes FinTech giants such as Revolut, N26, Plum and Shares as clients.

🎧 In this episode you’ll hear about: 🛠️ The origin story of Upvest and its pivot from blockchain to API-first investment infrastructure 💥 What early failures taught Martin (and how a Klarna acquisition shaped his journey) 🤝 Strategies for assembling a high-performance team and why Martin still does outbound hiring personally on LinkedIn 🎯 The real challenges of finding product-market fit in fintech 💸 Insider fundraising tips: lessons from Series A & B 🧠 How Martin stays structured and motivated under pressure 📈 His take on IPOs, strategic partnerships, and what’s next for Upvest

Whether you’re a fintech founder, investor, or operator, Martin’s candid reflections and hard-earned wisdom will inspire you to push through the emotional rollercoaster of building something truly meaningful. 🎢✨

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Have a great Wednesday,

The Riding Unicorns team