01.10.2015 was the very beginning. It marked the day we started our enterpreneurial and thrilling rollercoaster ride: Aevi. Now six year’s later, after some investment rounds and strategic partnerships we are still passionate about changing the payments industry.
On the occasion of our 6th Birthday, we sat down with our CEO Mike Camerling and CFO Matthias Finke to chat about the last 6 years and the next.
What has been your main highlight of the last six years?
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Mike: It was the first time we got investment. Standing alone on our own two feet, because getting investment is confirmation, right? It’s confirmation that people believe in you, that they see what you’re doing is cool, that they know the market is there. I think both times we had investment, so with HPE and then with Mastercard again gave that confirmation that what we as a team, as a group, are fighting for. We’re changing an industry and people are confirming that. |
| Matthias: I think both funding rounds that we did for the initial Series A and Series B were huge milestones for Aevi and for confirming our positioning in the market. Every time we close a round I find it super valuable and it’s also a confirmation of our existence in the market. HPE from a financial perspective, and Mastercard from a strategic perspective very much saw the value in Aevi complementing their only channel proposition, their eCommerce capabilities with a face-to-face world and I think we’re beautifully positioned there to specially help them digitise the face-face pay world using our capabilities. |  |
What do you hope to achieve with Aevi in the next few years?
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Mike: I want to become the industry standard platform for integration orchestration of the new payments world. In the next two years or three years I want to hit a million endpoints connected to our platform. That would fulfil a dream that several of us have. We know we can make that change, but we can also become the Unicorn company, that’s still the goal. It’s really two-fold: one, I want to make that change in the industry with our vision, to see that happen. Two: I want to have those million endpoints connected, because that’s confirmation again of what we do. |
| Matthias: I think we have laid a great foundation and we’ve taken a few decisive cornerstones I would say in the last few years, such as being completely software-service-oriented now. With no hardware anymore we are now running a major transformation programme from ‘old to new’ as we call it, so really getting all our efforts centred to run our new product platform. That has given us a great positioning in the market as a payment orchestration platform.
Which is again something that is very much needed and wanted by many players in the market. This is also confirmed by our strong customer base. That’s why I truly believe that we can become the default industry platform that we always aim to be. We still aim to become the industry platform breakout of the corporate environment and become that Unicorn, which is doable from my perspective. |
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How would you describe the vibe at Aevi?
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Mike: In three words? That’s difficult. Passionate is one thing. How passionate we are about what we do because we believe in it. It’s something we really want, I think. We’re very committed to what we’re doing, and I think we’re super open. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know anything, you can just go and ask someone. And because of that passion you will probably get a longer answer than you wanted! So passionate, committed, and open. |
| Matthias: I would say it’s very collaborative environment with super flat hierarchies. We pay a lot of emphasis on team play. We’re still the size of a company where every single individual can really feel how he or she contributes to the journey. I think that’s what makes it exciting so you can feel the energy of the team to achieve what we set out to achieve. With 250 people that we are today we can still get everyone excited for this one vision that we’re aiming to achieve. | |
How will you be celebrating Aevi’s 6th birthday?
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Mike: Ah, that’s an interesting one. If I’m in the office with colleagues, I’ll have a beer or two with them. That would be really nice. Obviously, I have been there from the start, so I’ll also be looking back to what we have achieved. There’s a major of sort of reflection point, looking back and being so incredibly proud of what we all have achieved, because it wasn’t easy, and we did it. So, moments of being very proud, happy, and lucky that I’m part of this adventure. |
| Matthias: Coincidentally the 6th birthday falls at the same time as Michael Nolte’s 40th work anniversary. I’m super excited because it’s the first time that we will be getting together as a team tonight for a long time due to the Covid restrictions. So, whilst celebrating that together and celebrating Aevi’s 6th birthday I’ll be reflecting a bit on the past whilst also looking forward to what we still aim to achieve as a team and as a company. | |
