10. Building a Worldwide Fintech From Orlando: Piero’s Bold Vision

In this episode of The City Playbook Podcast, host Tim Giuliani, President & CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership, sits down with Piero Del Risco the founder of Pana, a global neobank built for immigrants and diasporas around the world.

After growing up around cameras and TV in the Dominican Republic, working in banking, insurance, and investment funds, and leading digital banking at Scotiabank in Toronto, Piero took a big leap: he left a secure career to solve a problem he personally lived through as an immigrant. Today, Pana has more than 200,000 signups and is on a mission to make opening a U.S. dollar account and moving money across borders as easy as sending a WhatsApp message.

Piero shares how a frustrating attempt to open a bank account during a visit to Orlando sparked the idea for Pana, how he got into Y Combinator, secured an O-1 “extraordinary ability” visa, and ultimately chose Orlando over Miami, New York, and California as the home base for his fast-growing fintech company. He also talks candidly about the toughest parts of fundraising, the realities of startup life, and why he believes Orlando checks all the boxes for high-skilled immigrants building global companies.

If you care about immigration, fintech, global banking, and Orlando’s rise as an international tech hub, this conversation will give you a front-row seat to what’s possible here.


Listen to learn about:

• Piero’s journey from Dominican Republic TV studios to leading digital banking at a global bank
• Why he left a “dream job” to build Pana and solve a 2,000-year-old problem: migration and remittances
• How Pana lets people open a global U.S. dollar account with just a passport or international ID
• Why Pana is like a Venmo/Zelle/WhatsApp for global money movement
• The challenges of fundraising in today’s environment and what kept him going
• Why Piero chose Orlando over bigger “startup cities” – and how the city’s infrastructure, airport, quality of life, and international community shape his decision
• How density, mixed-use districts, and serendipitous encounters fuel a stronger startup ecosystem
• A powerful book recommendation: “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield and what it means for builders and entrepreneurs

Connect with Pana and Piero:
Website: joinpana.com
Instagram: @panaapp

Download Pana in the app store to open your global U.S. dollar account.

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Website: https://timgiuliani.com/

Brought to you by the Orlando Economic Partnership Learn more: https://orlando.org