Kantox receives the ESADE and Banc Sabadell Prize for best start-up

Kantox, a pioneering firm in the exchange of currencies between companies without bank intermediation, has been acclaimed by ESADE and Banc Sabadell as The Best Start-up of the Year. Antonio Rami, Kantox founder and COO accepted the prize this Tuesday during the "Alumni Entrepreneurship Day", organised by ESADE Alumni.

Antonio Rami, a former student of ESADE, founded Kantox in 2011 together with Philippe Gelis. Both were former consultants at Deloitte and after noting the high costs and lack of transparency in exchanging currencies for companies, decided to come up with a better alternative.

Rami noted that one of Kantox’s contributions to the currency market is transparency in the exchange rates used. He added: "It is vital to shed light on the currency market, which happens to be one of the world’s biggest". He also stressed that that financial tech companies were democratising information and cutting out the middle man in currency exchange. "This is a development of enormous importance and the FinTech (Financial Technology) sector is one of the fastest-growing ones right now".

Kantox’s growth has been spectacular and it now has over 700 client companies. Furthermore, the firm forecasts reaching 1,000 million dollars-worth of exchange by the end of 2014. In 2014, Kantox received €6.4 million in funding, which will be used to consolidate the company in Europe and to develop its product.

The annual prize for the Best Start-up is now in its third edition. Its purpose is to foster entrepreneurial and investment activity in society as a whole and to highlight initiatives that are both innovative and financially viable.