Samarth Shekhar

Samarth leads the EMEA presence of SixThirty Ventures, a US-based VC for early stage B2B FinTech, InsurTech, Digital Health and Cyber Security startups. We invest in and help scale between 8 - 12 (usually post-Seed to series A/ A+ stage) companies each year, providing funding and connections to leading US financial institutions via a structured go-to-market program.

Together with Frank Schwab, Samarth co-founded FinTech Forum in 2013 to bring award-winning insights and connections for European FinTech startups, investors and financial institutions. Our 20+ events have brought together 300+ startups with 1500+ investors and financial institutions, while our "7 Questions..." series presents the latest thinking from leading startups and investors on trends, investments and corporate development .

Research & corporate development boutique focused on fintech and enterprise tech in Continental Europe.

Kea Company is the world's largest specialist Analyst Relations firm. Founded by ex-Gartner / Forrester / IDC / Ovum etc., Kea acquired London­-headquartered Lighthouse AR in March 2013 to create a global AR and Influencer Marketing powerhouse offering Analyst Relations, Public Relations and Social Media Marketing services focused on High-Tech Vendors, Small/Medium-size IT firms & Startups, as well as investors & VCs.

New Business Development in the Banking / FS sector in Germany, Austria & Switzerland for HCL Tech. Generated qualified pipeline of over € 6 Billion TCV. Helped HCL enter a strategic Fortune 500 European bank from-the-scratch and win a multi-year IT transformation program. Prepared go-to-market strategy, partnerships / channels, account-based marketing, advisor / analyst relations, social media marketing (blog "European Banking IT Cafe" on Finextra got 15000 hits in first 6 months)

Samarth was part of Capgemini´s Financial Services Global Business Unit, with a focus on developing selected focus accounts in Switzerland and Germany. 1. Market Planning & Demand Creation - Market study: Swiss FS sector - Key Banks and Insurance players - issues, trends and current IT Services providers - Evaluation and selection of Focus Accounts and Focus Offerings / Solutions - Demand Creation Plan 2. Account Development - Entry Strategy - Demand Creation Plan and "Push" Sales - Deal & Bid Mgmt

Samarth was based in Frankfurt as the Account Manager for HCL´s Deutsche Bank relationship in Germany, which he grew to over € 20 M / year.

Go-to-market, marketing and lead generation for OrbiTech Solutions Ltd. (spin-off of Citigroup India IT subsidiary)  Marketing of new core banking software product; including competitor analysis and target market and prospect list generation  Created marketing collateral and product demos, launched marketing and outreach campaign via global sales teams; collated inputs for product management plan with pilot client project.

Marketing and Strategy

Computer Science