The Emerging Technologies Investment Meeting in Davos gathered leading industry players and major investors to discuss the hottest topics in finance, including social impact and sustainable investments as well as the evolution of the global financial markets. As always, the conversations were lively and the content meaningful. Dr. Tobias Reichmuth (SUSI Partners), who moderated a panel discussion opined: ‘Sustainable Finance is a must for institutional investors.” He said, “Climate change is one of the mostly discussed topics in Davos this year, therefore sustainable finance has an importance like never before. We have seen in our panel that while certain barriers must still be overcome, capital is available and we are generally going in the right direction.”
Next up, the audience was all ears when Peter Fedichev, founder of Gero, said: “In 2019 we achieved rejuvenation in mammals using the intervention discovered by artificial intelligence. It is a significant milestone for AI and biotech industries. We are happy to announce it here at EmTech conference in Davos which is an impressive gathering of people interested in impact investments.” Given the size of the youth=market this is a huge announcement. Move over snails - we are using AI to restore youth.
If rejuvenation was topical so too was the unbanked – or unbankedness as coined by Lennix Lai, Financial Market Director at OKEx. He said: “Unbankedness has been a global challenge. The underprivileged who are not able to afford or return with enough economic benefits to the bank are left behind from a decent living standard.”
Sponsors were delighted with the three day event that produced headlines in impact investing, rejuvenation sector and banking the unbanked.
“We are thrilled to have been sponsors at EmTech Investing Meeting 2020 as it has touched upon topics that are the heart of our organization. IOV Labs is focused on developing the platforms needed for a new blockchain-based financial system that will enable worldwide financial inclusion and bridge the gap between these nascent technologies and mass adoption. We are aiming to do this through RSK Smart Contracts that extended Bitcoin´s functionalities, RIF (RSK Infrastructure Framework that is creating the building blocks to construct a fully decentralized internet by adding identity, storage, communications, marketplaces, micro-payments, and gateways layers and Taringa the largest Spanish speaking social medial network in the world with 30 million users and over 1,000 active online communities,” commented Diego Gutierrez Zaldivar, CEO of IOV Labs.
From lively debate to exciting changes in biotech, the EmTech house in Davos proved to be the go-to house for conversation in Davos.
The gathering offered three days of complete immersion into the world of deep tech and institutional finance, with the participation of leading global investors representing more than $400 billion in AUM.
Other highlights included advancements in emerging tech such as the social VR experience as explained by Brian Kean. He is the head of International IR and Voice Creation, of Sensorium. He informed fascinated attendees of upcoming news. “As content creators, we ask you all to keep an eye out for our late 2020 world-wide launch. The Social VR experience in the Sensorium Galaxy is the next step in social network.” Watch this space for news.
Day two concluded with a panel discussion on Investments in Digital Assets in Asia with Hugh Madden, CEO at BC Group, and other thought leaders from OKEx, Huobi Group, PALcapital, and was moderated by Tom Blackwell, CEO of EM. Ciara Sun, Vice President of Global Business at Huobi Group, stated: there is industry-wide consensus that institutional investors and HNWIS will be the major contributors of growth for the crypto economy in 2020 and beyond, but barriers like low liquidity and a lack of asset enhancement products are stalling widespread adoption. By introducing institutional-grade products and liquidity solutions that cater to the needs of institutions and eliminate existing barriers, we are aiming to help drive the entire crypto-economy forward.
On day three, EmTech IM started the discussion on the Travel Rule and Data Privacy with opening remarks from Michael Casey of CoinDesk followed by a Keynote by Jason Hsu, Congressman and member of the Parliamentary Coalition for Blockchain SRO.
There were two panel sessions, the first, entitled “Travel Rule and Data Privacy” including Nathan Kaiser (Cardano Foundation), Anson Zeall (Blockchain Association) and Ron Tucker (IDAXA).
The second panel session was entitled “Compliance Solutions for Business”, with panellists including Delphine Forma (Lykke Business), Gino Wirthensohn (Sygnum), Guido Rudolphi (SEBA Bank AG), David Riegelnig (Bitcoin Suisse), Zurab Ashvil (L3COS) and moderated by Anna Poullain , freelance Journalist for Vice, Getty Video and Reuters.
Zurab Ashvil, CEO at L3COS, stated: ‘Without having a single universal platform for governments, businesses and individuals worldwide, there is no practical solution for underlying Blockchain problems that we are facing today’.
Founders of the EmTech Investment Meeting, Alena Yudina and Anna Palmina, said:
“We are delighted to be in Davos to bring topical debate and knowledge from incredible speakers to an audience thirsty for content on world-changing matters - such as growing recognition that the societal and environmental impact of investments is of equal importance to financial returns. There is no better place than Davos to discuss such issues, where the best global minds in finance, government, business and technology come together. We are honoured to be hosting an event where positive and world-changing conversations can take place.”