Will Orde (Passion Capital): How We Identify the Next FinTech Unicorn at Pre-Seed

Global financial services are worth trillions, yet most back-office processes are still trapped in the 1990s. Discover how a new generation of AI-native startups is finally moving beyond SaaS to automate the office of the CFO and redefine global payment rails.

In this episode of Aulium, Will Orde, Partner at Passion Capital, joins hosts Thomas Viguier and Markus Perkumas to dissect the evolving landscape of European FinTech. Will shares the investment thesis behind one of London’s most iconic venture firms—early backers of Monzo and GoCardless—and explains why they prioritize founder judgment and high-velocity decision-making. We dive deep into the specific opportunities within "Agentic Payments" and why the next wave of disruption will come from "strongly opinionated" AI products.

Key Discussion Points
The 7-Day Decision Cycle: How Passion Capital maintains a competitive edge by moving from first meeting to term sheet in one week.

The Rise of Agentic Payments: Why current payment rails are built for humans, and how the future belongs to agent-to-agent transactions.

The Founder "Litmus Test": How to evaluate a founding team’s judgment based on their choice of co-founders and early hires.

AI in the Office of the CFO: Identifying the "Greenfield" opportunities where manual Excel-based processes are ripe for AI automation.

The "Pain Point" Priority: Why a startup must solve a top-3 problem for a CFO to achieve true market pull.

About the Guest: Will Orde is a Partner at Passion Capital, a leading European pre-seed VC firm, where he leverages deep sector expertise to back founders disrupting FinTech and enterprise risk through AI.

About Aulium: Aulium is a video show dedicated to Innovation and Private Capital. Hosts Thomas Viguier and Markus Perkumas interview industry leaders to uncover the mechanics of European tech ecosystems, M&A strategies, and the future of investing.

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Follow Aulium on LinkedIn:   / aulium  

Thomas Viguier:   / tviguier  

Markus Perkumas:   / markusperkumas  

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