User:MultiPolitikus/sandbox/bfi

The Berlin Finance Initiative (BFI) is an advocacy group aimed at promoting Berlin as a FinTech hub. The BFI seeks to foster innovative technologies in the fields of financial services and the digital economy in Berlin. To achieve this goal, it organizes events such as the Fintech Festival Berlin (FIBE) and the transatlantic network Fin-Tech Leaders.

Formation
The Berlin Finance Initiative (BFI) was founded in 2019 by Achim Oelgarth (CEO of the East German Banking Association) and Caroline Wahl (PR consultant) with the goal of strengthening and networking the Berlin ecosystem, particularly in the field of technology-based finance and the digital economy.

Berlin was chosen as the location because it is the German hub for FinTech. Out of approximately 1,000 German FinTech companies, more than a third are based in Berlin, and six out of seven German Unicorns have their headquarters there. Additionally, Berlin offers proximity to federal-level politics.

In February 2023, Maximilian Riege was appointed as the second CEO of the Berlin Finance Initiative.

Activities
The initiative offers regular networking events, as well as activities and qualification opportunities on topics such as market entry and financing. In collaboration with the Berlin Business Office, USA, the BFI is working on connecting the Berlin ecosystem with the financial and tech hubs in the USA, including Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, and New York City, through the Fin-Tech Leaders network. The BFI also publishes studies on the financial industry.

As one of the sponsors of the de:hub IoT & FinTech in Berlin under the Digital Hub Initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, the BFI collaborates with Berlin Partner, Investitionsbank Berlin, and the Berlin Senate Department for Economics, Energy, and Public Enterprises in establishing the Berlin House of Finance and Tech.

In April 2024, in cooperation with Handelsblatt and Messe Berlin, the BFI will host the Fintech Festival FIBE for the first time.