Fintech50 2016: The Most Innovative Technology Companies

The rise of financial technology in 2016 was nothing short of phenomenal. Today, big companies were a significant part of the Fintech50 2016 list. Thanks to the underlying blockchain technology, the fintech ecosystem now has many institutional investors. In the same year, many fintech startups rose from different cities in the world, including New York City and San Francisco, while giving traditional banks a run for their money.

Big banks like JPMorgan Chase have had no option but to become partners with some and accept that a sizable number will create stiff competition. Creating technology services and cloud-based software while building the future of money is a laudable achievement; yes! These companies deserve all the accolades. Remember that the 2016 financial revolution started the rise of many big companies. This Fintech50 2016 article will break down the numbers for you. Let’s look at these fantastic companies that have made online payments and bank processes easier and their respective originating cities.

The Deserving Companies in the Financial Services Sector 2016

  1. ActiveHours (Palo Alto, California)
  2. Addepar (Mountain View, California)
  3. Affirm (San Francisco)
  4. AlphaSense (San Francisco)
  5. Aztech Exchange (Dublin, Ireland)
  6. Betterment (New York City)
  7. C2FO (Fairway, Kansas)
  8. Cadre ( New York)
  9. Chain (San Francisco)
  10. CircleUp (San Francisco)
  11. Coinbase (San Francisco)
  12. Credit Karma (San Francisco)
  13. Dataminr (New York)
  14. Digital Reasoning (Nashville)
  15. DV01(San Francisco)
  16. Earnest (San Francisco)
  17. EarnUp (San Francisco)
  18. Ellevest (New York)
  19. Fundbox (San Francisco)
  20. Fundera (New York)
  21. Funding Circle (San Francisco)
  22. Fundrise (Washington, DC)
  23. Gusto (San Francisco)
  24. IEX (New York)
  25. Kabbage (Atlanta)
  26. Kensho (Cambridge)
  27. Klarna (Stockholm)
  28. Metromile (San Francisco)
  29. Motif Investing (Motif, California)
  30. Numer.ai (San Francisco)
  31. Orchard Platform (New York)
  32. Personal Capital (San Carlos, California)
  33. Plaid (San Francisco)
  34. Point (Palo Alto, California)
  35. Qapital (New York)
  36. Quantopian (Boston)
  37. Ripple (San Francisco)
  38. Riskalyze (Auburn, California)
  39. Robinhood (Palo Alto, California)
  40. Signifyd (San Jose, California)
  41. SoFi (San Francisco)
  42. Stripe (San Francisco)
  43. Symphony (Palo Alto, California)
  44. Tala (Santa Monica, California)
  45. TransferWise (London, UK)
  46. TrueAccord (San Francisco)
  47. Trumid (New York)
  48. Xapo (Palo Alto, California)
  49. Xignite (San Mateo, California)
  50. ZestFinance (Los Angeles, California)

These financial institutions were founded by fully compliant entrepreneurs who have made it their mission to help people create and preserve wealth. With their active participation, the financial services industry has experienced massive growth in terms of innovation. 

In addition, these Fintech50 2016 companies have also followed the payment services directive by regulators. It would also interest you to know that Venture Capital (VC) played a vital role in the rise of these institutions. Notable investors, including Citi Ventures, QED Investors, Google Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Ribbit Capital, have raised millions of dollars for these innovative organisations. Other institutional investors include Index Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners, individual investors like Elon Musk, and the PayPal Mafia.

Before now, finance firms did not have a solid infrastructure for allowing users to transact without any glitch. Funding, investment, partnership, equity have also influenced these former small businesses to incredible levels. With the total investments into financial technology going as high as $18.9 billion as of 2016, more money is expected to be pumped into the ecosystem.

Fintech50 2016: Conclusion

If you had read this article to the end, you would notice that most firms have their origin in the United States. Similarly, others have built their cloud technology in the country. Would it mean that the US is the home to fintech development? Visit our additional Fintech50 2016 List Part 2 to discover the companies that made the biggest impression in 2016.