A group focused on developing the local fintech community is forming in Tampa Bay.
Next Money, which recently rebranded from Next Bank, is celebrating the launch of its Tampa Bay charter with its first meet-up on Thursday June 30th at 6:00 PM, being held at the Tampa Bay WaVE Venture Center, 500 East Kennedy Boulevard in downtown Tampa. The kickoff event will also be broadcast live utilizing Cisco’s Telepresence technology, the WaVE Venture Center is a beta test site for Brighthouse aided Telepresence capabilities.
Next Money is Singapore-based group; the organizers have dubbed it the TED of banking, the community aims to reinvent finance through design, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The new name for Next Money coincides with the launch of 2 conferences; New York on September 7th and London on September 14 in partnership with the BBVA Open Talent competition, the return of the Fintech Finals in Hong Kong in January 2017, and the expansion of the of local Next Money chapters across the globe. Twenty-five local chapters already exist in cities such as London, Sydney and Silicon Valley, supported by Visa, and the company announced it would be launching dozens more over the next year.
Tampa Bay marks the fifth U.S. chapter after New York City, Seattle, San Francisco and Charlotte, NC. Tampa Bay Chapter Lead, Bruce Burke, an advocate for Tampa Bay’s startup scene, says Next Money coming to the Bay Area shows how the local ecosystem “is growing up.” The local chapters bring people together to network with the best minds in fintech in your city. Membership is free, and anyone in the financial-technology space can join.
“I was already building this type of community through similar events,” Burke says about the fintech group. Having the Next Money brand and support of this prestigious International organization gives the Tampa Bay chapter credibility, he says.
The local chapters meet at least six times a year. Meetings can range from networking sessions to more formal panel discussions and events with guest speakers. The Tampa Bay chapter will have more frequent meetings, with regularly scheduled meetings in Tampa, St Petersburg and Clearwater. Next Money TPA will also host occasional larger events, culminating in an annual Next Money conference to be held in Tampa Bay.
Most of the people who have gone to the planning sessions have experience working for large banks and financial service providers. Now they work in the entrepreneurial scene in town. There are no other organizational groups in Tampa Bay’s fintech scene Next Money will be the first network of innovators and professionals of its kind that meets regularly in Tampa Bay. The first meet-up will feature an overview on the Next Money organization, followed by a presentation from a high-profile industry expert, and off-site networking thereafter.
But fintech is broader than payment solutions, applications and security standards. Burke and others working on the Next Money chapter are contemplating how the new chapter will integrate with the local startup community in Tampa Bay.
Well-known entrepreneur and recent keynote speaker at the Next Money, Charlotte launch, Brad Feld makes it clear in his book, Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Your City, that entrepreneurs must be the ones to step forward to build a strong startup community.
“The leaders of a startup community must be the entrepreneurs,” Feld writes in his book. “The larger the number of entrepreneurs involved, the more great things happen.”
Find your local city chapter or start your own: https://nextmoney.org/chapters/
About Next Money
Next Money is an independent, open and collaborative community driving change for the better in financial services through design, innovation and entrepreneurship. Our business began in events and media and is driven by strong partnerships.
The people behind Next Money are all current financial services industry leaders and practitioners. We are spread across the world, from Sydney to Seattle, and are strongly connected with the best and brightest minds in the business. We have a strong volunteer network helping spread the Next Money movement. https://nextmoney.org/