A brief dive into the tech universe to explore biotech and fintech, two sectors in the midst of revolution!
The rapid development of new technologies, and their introduction into society and our daily lives, has permanently impacted and transformed certain sectors. In fact, the world of technology is specializing by approaching traditional markets, as evidenced by the rise and sometimes success of specialized start-ups in recent years. To describe this convergence, we have observed a proliferation of new neologisms, forged by the business world: greentech, medtech, wealthtech, legaltech, femtech, foodtech…
Today, we focus on the very promising sectors of biotech (neologism of biology and technology) and fintech (neologism of finance and technology), which succeed in standing out through their ability to reinvent traditional models while addressing major challenges.
Biotech: Scientific Revolution and Tomorrow’s Challenges
Biotech: a Sector Serving the Future
Biotechnology refers to the use of science and technologies applied to living organisms to create innovative products or services in various fields such as medicine, agriculture, or industry.
While biotechnology was originally confined to research laboratories, it has experienced a meteoric rise in the business world in recent years. The term biotech has thus emerged to encompass this entrepreneurial and scientific ecosystem.
The fields of application for biotechnologies are so numerous that a color code is now used to classify the companies involved:
Red: for medical activities (manufacturing of drugs, vaccines, gene therapies)
Green: for agricultural and ecological activities (genetically modified plants)
White: for industrial activities (creation of biofuels)
Blue: for activities centered on marine biodiversity
Yellow: for environmental protection (treatment or elimination of pollution)
It’s a market with great potential for the future, with the OECD estimating that “industrial biotechs are among the essential technologies for tomorrow’s economic development”.
June Hart Almeida, a Dedicated Scientist
To echo the events of our century, we can mention the brilliant career of June Almeida (née Hart), a virologist who first identified the coronavirus, and whose research has structured the biotech sector.
June Hart was born in 1930 in Scotland, to a bus driver father and a shop assistant mother. She grew up in poverty, while being a brilliant student. In 1947, she won a science prize at her school, which motivated her to pursue university studies. However, her family’s poverty prevented her from realizing her desires, and she was forced to find a job to help her parents pay the bills. That’s how she started working at 16 as a laboratory technician in histopathology (a discipline aimed at making diagnoses through microscopic tissue study).
Her marriage to “Venezuelan artist Enriques Rosalia Almeida led her to Toronto, Canada, where many opportunities presented themselves to her, although she had no degree. Her experience at the” Ontario Cancer Institute, in creating “cancer images, would” help her gain a reputation as an “expert: she developed techniques that would facilitate and revolutionize” virus identification, particularly through the technique of “negative staining”. And all this at a time when virus detection was a particularly time-consuming and arduous task!
Although her discoveries were underestimated, June Almeida received an honorary scientific doctorate in 1971 in recognition of her contribution to virology. A significant number of scientific articles in virology include the virus images she herself produced.
The COVID-19 pandemic draws attention to the remarkable work and journey of this determined woman, whose impact is felt throughout the biotech and virology sector.
Fintech: When Technology Disrupts Finance
Fintech: A New Era for Financial Services
Fintech refers to the application of new technologies to the financial sector. It manifests concretely through the use of applications, software, or technologies that allow individuals and businesses to manage their finances and make transactions digitally. By extension, the term also refers to start-ups operating in this field, which have been flourishing in recent years, similar to biotech.
According to Big Media, it was following the 2008 financial crisis that a turning point occurred for many actors in banking and financial structures. This was when entrepreneurs sought to rethink finance to make it more accessible and innovative.
It is thanks to fintech that we have seen the emergence of new promising ideas, activities, and technologies in recent years: cryptocurrencies, crowdfunding, online banking… So many remarkable innovations!
Gerry Poirier: Putting Fintech at the Service of Women
Fintech is a field known to be male-dominated, subject to significant gender disparities, although a substantial and growing number of women participate in its development and leave their mark every day. This is what Gerry Poirier observes during her career in finance, who feels she works more for less recognition than her male counterparts.
To help develop women’s potential worldwide, hindered by gender inequalities in terms of funding, access to education, salary… She decides to create a crowdfunding platform dedicated to financing projects led by women: Angelink.
But her commitment to reducing gender inequalities in the fintech environment goes beyond creating the platform. She particularly emphasizes the importance of changing narratives and supporting women and other minorities in entrepreneurship to achieve a more diverse and inclusive fintech.
Female Innovation: A Lever for the Future
Biotech and fintech perfectly illustrate how technological innovation is profoundly transforming key sectors of our society. While biotechnology continues to push the boundaries of science and medicine, fintech is revolutionizing “access to financial services by making them more accessible and flexible. Behind these advances, figures like June Almeida and Gerry Poirier remind us of the importance of female contributions in these fields still marked by gender inequalities. In the” future, these sectors will undoubtedly continue to shape our daily lives and open new perspectives, both economically and societally.
Written by Nastia and edited by Intan
Sources:
BBVA. (n.d.). Fintech, proptech, femtech, edtech and other related neologisms. Retrieved from https://www.bbva.com/en/innovation/fintech-proptech-femtech-edtech-and-other-related-neologisms/
Plaid. (n.d.). What is fintech?. Retrieved from https://plaid.com/resources/fintech/what-is-fintech/
What is Biotechnology. (n.d.). Home. Retrieved from https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/home
What is Biotechnology. (n.d.). Almeida. Retrieved from https://www.whatisbiotechnology.org/index.php/people/summary/Almeida
Forbes Tech Council. (2024, November 18). Women in Fintech: Empowering Change Through a Female-Forward Mission. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/11/18/women-in-fintech-empowering-change-through-a-female-forward-mission/
AngeLink. (n.d.). Founder’s Story. Retrieved from https://angelink.com/blog/founders-story/
