Startup Success: What do Web Summit events mean to Synctera’s Kris Hansen?

We sat down with Kris Hansen, co-founder and CTO of Synctera, to talk about the startup’s experience at our events.

Synctera, founded in 2020, is one of the many successful startups that have attended a Web Summit event. Ahead of this year’s event, we spoke with co-founder and CTO Kris Hansen.

Synctera’s platform gives companies of all sizes the technology infrastructure, sponsor-bank connection and compliance framework they need to launch fintech or embedded banking products. With a single set of APIs, companies are able to quickly launch and scale products such as debit cards, bank accounts, charge cards, lines of credit, and money movement.

Here, Kris explains to us what Collision (our former North American event, succeeded by Web Summit Vancouver) has meant to Synctera, and how attendees can get the most out of Web Summit events.

Why did you initially choose to come to Collision?

We’re focused on enabling embedded financial services for high-growth companies that are typically building solutions for other industries. We thought it would be interesting to get some of our team out to the conference floor and talk to companies about what they’re building and how our capabilities might fit in.

What stage of development was the company at before you attended?

We were a Series A company.

Who are some of the connections you made at the event?

One of the most powerful connections that we made at the last event was bumping into one of our existing and largest customers.

We met their sales team at the event just coincidentally, and then were given a full download on how they are selling our capabilities in the market and what it’s doing for them. We were able to get real customer feedback and it helped our team connect with theirs.

Did attending our event have an impact on your business’s development?

It has been helpful for us from a market awareness standpoint for sure. We’ve had people indicate that they saw us at the event or saw us speaking at the event and I think, as we are building out our brand and defining a new category of services, this awareness is very helpful for us.

Would you recommend Web Summit events to other founders?

Yes, I think conferences and events like Collision are important for company builders. You can get a lot of feedback from talking to people about your company and learning more about theirs. Innovators show up at events like this, and ideas are shaped through exploration and interaction.

At different stages, you want to get different things from events like Collision – and other events serve different purposes – but I think Collision does a good job of bringing the world to Toronto, and of highlighting innovation from different regions and sectors.

One of my favourite things to do as a serial entrepreneur is to just walk the floor of an event like this and check out the smaller and more fringe booths, talking to founders about their ideas and how it’s going.

Will you be returning to one of our Web Summit events?

Yes, we’re looking to attend most key events, especially where there is a financial services innovation angle.

Web Summit is coming to Vancouver in 2025. Don’t miss out.

Main image of Synctera co-founder and CTO Kris Hansen on Centre Stage during Day 2 of Collision 2022: Carlos Osorio/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)