fDi Podcast

The beginning of 2022 has been among the most turbulent in recent memory. Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, millions of people have fled the country. Alongside billions of dollars worth of damage in Ukraine, the war has caused global prices for everything from fuel to food to soar. Multilateral institutions have subsequently downgraded their economic forecasts for many countries around the world.

In this...

Famous for The Beatles, football and its waterfront, Liverpool is also a notable case study in cultural urban regeneration. It won its bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2008 and has since become a popular city break destination, attracting over 50m tourists a year pre-pandemic.

Claire McColgan, director of Culture Liverpool, talks to fDi about the impact of the award on the city, how it grew in confidence and the expe...

The Tate Modern needs little introduction. As one of the most recognisable museums in the world, it has helped put London on the map as an international art and cultural centre. But perhaps less often discussed is its contribution towards the transformation of London’s waterfront in what could be described as a “Tate Modern effect”. 

In conversation with Seth O’Farrell, Frances Morris stresses that throughout the museum’s h...

Covid-19 has disrupted global supply chains in everything from semiconductors to vaccines. Jennifer Bisceglie, the CEO and founder of supply chain risk company Interos, has spent over two decades helping organisations reduce risk and avoid disruption in their supply chains.

From her base in Arlington, Virginia, Ms Bisceglie joins fDi’s regular start-up podcast to discuss global supply chains and Interos’ recent crowning as a uni...

Software as a service (SaaS) platforms are particularly scalable, making them highly sought after by both venture capital and public market investors. The journey of Freshworks, a provider of SaaS to help businesses engage with their customers, is a case in point. 

Since being founded in the Indian city of Chennai in 2010, Freshworks has moved its headquarters to San Mateo, California and in September 2021 listed on the Nas...

When Harpa Concert Hall opened in 2011, it was met with anger and dismay as the fallout from the banking crisis still roiled Iceland. Now, the honeycombed glass structure, which doubles up as a conference centre, boasts an approval rating of over 70% and is a main attraction for foreign visitors who come to visit Reykjavik.

As it celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, Svanhildur Konráðsdóttir tells fDi how the conc...

Katowice offers its visitors something alternative to picturesque Krakow, only 70km away. Once the industrial heartland of communist Poland, the city and surrounding region of Upper Silesia was synonymous with coal and far from being perceived as a hub for the arts. As the coal mines were closed down in the mid-1990s, there was also a push to make Katowice, known as “the city of music”, into a cultural centre.

Ewa Bogusz-Moore, ...

Mexico City-based Kavak, an online used car marketplace start-up now valued at $8.7bn, is on a mission to improve transparency, safety and access to financing in the used car market across Latin America.

Carlos Garcia Ottati, a serial entrepreneur who founded Kavak in 2016 after leading other notable start-ups across the region, joined fDi’s Rising Ecosystems podcast to discuss Kavak’s backstory, his outlook for the used car ma...

Rapid grocery delivery services have raised eye-watering funding and expanded rapidly this year. Istanbul-based Getir, the start-up that pioneered the 10-minute delivery model now valued at $7.5bn, is expanding its operations across Europe and soon into the US.

Nazim Salur, Getir’s CEO and co-founder, joined fDi’s regular start-up podcast to discuss the on-demand grocery delivery market, the company’s growth plans and Istanbul’s...

This week, we travel up from Bilbao to Arles in Provence, France, where the Luma Arles Tower was unveiled over the summer. Luma Arles itself spans art, design, performance, research and ecology and sits on a defunct rail yard site. Like Bilbao’s Guggenheim, the centrepiece for the $175m multi-disciplinary arts complex was designed by American architect Frank Gehry.

Maja Hoffmann, founder and president of the Luma Foundation, tel...

The Bilbao Effect is a term bandied around to describe how a cultural institution can reignite the local economy of a disaffected city or area. In this new podcast series, we want to look closely at different case studies to understand how culture can provide a boost to urban development. 

Juan Ignacio Vidarte, director general of the Guggenheim Bilbao, talks to fDi’s Seth O’Farrell to delve beneath the myths of the Basque ...

Fast growing companies relocate their headquarters for many reasons, and GetYourGuide is no different. After being founded in Zurich in 2009, the experience booking platform decided to move their main office to Berlin in 2018, aiming to leverage the city’s growing start-up expertise and appeal to tech talent.

Tao Tao, GetYourGuide’s co-founder and chief operating officer, joined fDi’s regular start-up podcast to discuss tourism...

An explosion in the popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has been a boon for trading platforms this year, with Vienna-based Bitpanda among them.

Having ridden a wave of retail investor interest in digital assets, crypto trading platform Bitpanda became Austria’s first “unicorn” – private company valued at above $1bn – after its Series B funding round in March, bringing global attention to Vienna’s growing start-up scene.

...

Co-hosts Yessi and Alex wrap up season one of the podcast

To conclude their virtual tour of UK tech communities, co-hosts Yessi and Alex give their take on the current state of the UK's start-up scene, summarising the six ecosystems featured so far.

Yessi and Alex discuss topics such as the humility of entrepreneurs and affordability of cities outside London, the later stage funding gap, mental health and more.

fDi speaks to Stephanie Locke and Neil Cocker about the start-up community in Cardiff.

In this seventh episode, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez head to Cardiff in Wales to find out what's happening with entrepreneurship on the ground. 

Joining the show to provide their candid take on Cardiff's start-up ecosystem are Neil Cocker, the co-founder of local tech community Cardiff Start and CEO of Ra...

Min Ye, associate professor of international relations at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, Min Ye talks to fDi's Seth O'Farrell about how China’s economic policy was born of crisis, not desire for control.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the economic development strategy adopted in 2013, has undergone various permutations in Chinese and global imaginaries alike. Far from aligning with the view t...

In part two of the sixth episode exploring the entrepreneurial landscape of UK cities, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez continue their remote journey to Belfast.

Featuring the same two guests as part one – Belfast City Council' digital innovation commissioner Jayne Brady, and Henry Joseph-Grant, a serial entrepreneur and start-up mentor – this digs deeper into some of the challenges and opportunities in ...

In part one of the sixth episode exploring the entrepreneurial landscape of UK cities, co-hosts Alex Irwin-Hunt and Yessi Bello Perez travel remotely to Belfast.

Joining the show are two guests born in Northern Ireland, who discuss why they both returned home after years of diverse work experience abroad in multinationals, venture capital and start-ups.

Jayne Brady, who is the digital innovation commissioner at Belfast City C...