Finance Awards 2018

www.wealthandfinance-news.com 8 Wealth & Finance International - 2018 Finance Awards CEO Oliver Freigang Founded at the beginning of this year, qashqade is a FinTech Start-up focused on providing Private Equity solutions for Private Equity firms (General Partners), its investors (Limited Partners) and other stakeholders as well as for any private company who needs a cashflow analysis tool to help them track or model their investors’ or shareholders’ share. These innovative features are based on feedback from experience in the Private Equity industry and current users, and the solution is constantly adapting to meet their needs, as Oliver explains. “Here at qashqade, we provide a latest-technology tool with the flexibility to define waterfall terms in all variations, increase the efficiency and stability of the calculations therefore reducing the risk and still having a simple user-friendly, easy-to- use interface. The qashqade software has been developed to enable transparency based on the needs and demands of its clients. The user controls all aspects of qashqade’s configurations directly and in real-time. “Our strengths lie in bringing together digital technologies and specific expertise in the areas of finance, product knowledge for private equity solutions, product development and risk management; all within one coherent system. qashqade is a software solution and as such we rely on the usability and intuitiveness of our software. We constantly verify and work with prospects and clients to ensure that our software keep a high-level of user friendliness and stays on top of the market. We listen to our customers and enhance our software based on their feedback, then we discuss with prospects and clients what they would like to have as new features. This interactive, collaborative approach ensures that we continue to adapt around their needs and constantly exceed their expectations.” Although the firm is in its infancy, Oliver and his team draw on extensive experience, both in the PE market and the wider financial space. Oliver shares an insight into today’s financial market and how technology and new industry players are providing opportunities for companies such as his. With hundreds of new FinTech firms starting every year, it is important for companies to stand out. Headquartered in Zurich, qashqade aims to set itself apart by offering a truly unique waterfall and carry calculation solution. CEO Oliver Freigang tells us more. FinTech Start Up of the Year 2018 - Central Europe Oct18476 Company: qashqade Name: Oliver Freigang Address: Splügenstrasse 6, 8002 Zurich, Switzerland Telephone Number: +41795506111 Web Address: www.qashqade.com Email: [email protected] “The finance industry and within the Private Equity industry is changing. In the past commercial banks used to provide debt financing to Start-Ups and other private companies but due to increased regulatory pressure for the traditional banks, this has diminished drastically and instead of commercial banks Venture Capital firms, Incubators and Angel Investors have taken up their place. In 2017 approx. USD 3 trillion in Assets were held by Private Equity firms and this number is expected to increase to almost USD 5 trillion by 2023. At the same time investors into these PE funds are asking for more transparency on their investment which will further drive changes.” “At qashqade, since our focus is predominantly on the PE industry and related sectors, we believe that an increase in regulatory pressure will impact the industry over the next two years significantly. With the meltdown of the Abraaj Group just recently we expect more pressure on risk and compliance will be forced upon this industry. At the same time digitalization will continue to influence the overall finance industry with the traditional approach of how to do business in this industry heavily challenged. These changes will offer many exciting opportunities for dynamic firms such as qashqade.” As an incredibly young business, looking ahead there are many exciting developments in store for qashqade, which Oliver explores in his concluding comments. “Since we just launched our business this year, here at qashqade we are very much trying to win new clients to breakeven within the next 12 months. We are continuing to enhance our product and are launching the investor (LP) version within the next few months. This new tool will enable investors to track and valuate their investments into private equity funds and/or private companies and compare the performance and financials to the data received by the PE firm or private company. This will effectively allow the investor to evaluate themselves if the investment is performing as indicated by the PE firm or private company. Furthermore, we are going to continue to enhance our GP tool to further attract new clients. These developments will help us to enhance our already impressive success and deliver the solutions our clients need in today’s fast-paced financial market.”