Birgit Everaert invites founders of startups and scale-ups for a comfy chat in the Startup Sofa. For this pre-Corona edition, we invited the Els Meyvaert, Marketing Director at SettleMint.
Blockchain platform as a service
SettleMint offers a blockchain platform as a service to companies and governments. From day 1, they entered the markets of the Middle East and South-East Asia.
Els explains the cultural differences in doing business in the East, especially as a woman in tech. How did she survive her first video conference with clients in Saudi Arabia? As always, local connections are crucial. Even more important is to understand how relationships are built and what you can expect from them. Reaching out to locally established partners and pitching to incubators and acceleration programs is a most-do on your journey abroad.
SettleMint recently received VC funding from KPN Ventures to further expand the team and services. Els elaborates on the funding strategy and shares her advice on how to prepare for VC funding.
Further, Els talks about how she started at SettleMint, co-founded by her husband, and how she separates private and professional life with him today.
Table of content:
- How did it all start? (1:03)
- Doing business in the Middle East (5:06)
- Europe in the war of tech (9:14)
- Market entry strategy (11:10)
- Funding Strategy (16:31)
- Working with your husband (20:46)
- Women in tech (23:35)
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