Today we’d like to introduce you to Paolo Fidanza.
Hi Paolo, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Rome, Italy and graduated with a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering. My first and only job was in the UK for Group Lotus, where I reached the position of Manager in the Engineering division in just three years. However, my vision transcended the conventional: I decided to take a bold leap of conviction. I left my managerial post in 2001 to found my first utility electric car company in the USA.
It was a brilliant idea with innovative technology, but the unstable environment following 9/11 left us without funding. That failure became my real university. It taught me that resilience is the most important capital and forged my conviction that you should never give up, even when everything seems to go against you.
Fueled by genetic curiosity and a deep passion for solving high-impact problems and making the world a better place, I returned to the UK. After a successful stint in the Tech Educational sector (founding IT schools), I founded in 2004 a telecommunications company that quickly scaled to 650 employees and generated over $400 million in annual revenue.
My entrepreneur career continued in Europe and the UK across various sectors until 2007, when I moved to California. There, I diversified my experience by founding several companies spanning e-commerce, high-tech security, healthcare, and mediatech. In 2016, after selling my mediatech company to a Canadian fund, I moved to Colombia. There, I found a mission that ignited a new passion: addressing global financial inclusion.
Between 2016 and 2020, I co-founded a pioneering AI tech company focused on this mission. I was granted 3 USPTO patents for AI and ML inventions applied to credit assessment and default predictions, driven by the purpose of making visible the billions of people marginalized by the traditional credit system as ‘invisible’.
In 2020, I took the definitive step to found KEO World. Today, that same conviction drives KEO, where we are revolutionizing B2B payments and access to credit to make SMEs more efficient, successful, and most importantly, to create more jobs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, the road was never smooth; in fact, I went bankrupt twice.
My first major setback came at the beginning of my career: I invested all my savings to launch my utility electric car in the USA. When that company had to shut down, I returned to the UK broke. To finance my first IT School, I had to rely on a partner to borrow $20,000.
The second blow came in 2009. A large investment in a social media business went wrong. At that time, the situation was extreme: I was left homeless. It was an extraordinary friend who gave me a roof and a bed. The adversity, however, quickly reversed: six months later, I was back successfully, launching a startup in the healthcare sector.
Those falls were not weaknesses; they were the forging of my character. They taught me that resilience are the most important capital, and that human connection is the only thing that rescues us.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
KEO is an AI and Blockchain Fintech, focusing on innovation and disruptive technologies. We are known for our technical excellence and superior attention to our customers.
At KEO, our main pride is translating complex technology into real solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our mission is high-impact: we help SMEs become more efficient, successful, and create more jobs, directly boosting the real economy. An example of our commitment is KEO Rails, a blockchain-based payment rail infrastructure that we are deploying to financial institutions in the U.S. and globally. This technology allows entities to create and distribute new financial products to SMEs in a way that is faster, more secure, and much more efficient. Looking ahead, we ask all professionals and business owners to watch for the release of KENA in 2026. This is our large-scale credit model based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and it is designed to simplify their lives and make their businesses much more successful.
What truly sets us apart is the KEO DNA we have instilled in all our people: an unrelenting passion for solving problems that impact SMEs, constant innovation, and a commitment to always thinking outside the box. Working at KEO is a shared mission; it’s about being part of something bigger, not just a job.
How do you think about luck?
Honestly, I think luck has been more like a spark than a force in my life. It’s shown up at random times—meeting the right person, catching an idea at the perfect moment—but it only mattered because I was ready to do something with it.
Luck can open a door, sure, but it doesn’t walk you through it. I’ve learned that the real trick is to stay prepared so when luck does show up, you can turn it into something meaningful. So yeah, I respect luck—but I don’t rely on it. I just try to make sure it finds me working.
Regarding mentorship and networking, what has worked for me has been simple yet profound: active listening and deep observation. I meet a lot of people, at any level of education or career, and I love to listen. I have lived in six countries and traveled to many places, which has allowed me to observe different cultures, various habits, and diverse ways of addressing problems. My recommendation is to always maintain an open mind to listen to all opinions and observe. An open mind is the most valuable tool. The biggest mistake in networking is talking too much; success lies in authenticity, observation, and passion
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.keoworld.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keo.world/?hl=en
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/keoworld/
Image Credits
Enrrique Tubio
