Here at Evolve we are champions of using technology to streamline our transaction processes, and have fully moved to the cloud.  As an entrepreneurial-run firm, we believe that investment banks should be focused on delivering core advisory which encapsulate understanding data and digitizing otherwise manual processes.  Our clients are high-growth entrepreneurial firms, are very tech-savvy and see eye-to-eye with us on the use of technology. 

Alex Koles, CEO of Evolve Capital, spoke with Federico Baradello, the CEO of Finalis, a VC-backed software driven firm enabling investment banks to operate, in the cloud, all aspects of a transaction. 

Here’s a link to the podcast episode that was recorded by Finalis. Finalis is serving up regular podcasts with industry leaders who are active in the space. 

As previously mentioned, investment banks that conduct complicated M&A and capital raise transactions are notoriously resistant to deploying technology in their operations.  This attitude affects larger investment banks down to the one-man firms advising on transactions, since the transactions are high-impact and there is not any room for error.  However, this attitude is shifting at firms across the size spectrum as new technology packages are being rolled out, at a competitive costs. 

Firms such Finalis are working to solve the pain points investment banks face in the space.  They are also offering their broker-dealer services as part of their package, which further reduce regulatory burdens for smaller firms.  This allows smaller firms to focus on advisory, in an all-in a complete technology package.

We expect more evolution to occur in the space.