The Fintech50 2018 List: Which Brands Won?

The year 2018 was challenging in many ways. The world had to wrestle with too many unknowns, creating unprecedented pressure in the financial markets. But it was not all doom and gloom, as the fintech sector performed exceptionally well this year. Wondering who made it to the fintech50 2018 list? Read on to find out.

2018: Main Themes and Issues

First and foremost, the global economy suffered due to the sudden deterioration of the trade relations between China and the United States. Though US President Donald Trump had spoken negatively about China even in his election campaign, it wasn’t until 2018 that he decided to impose sanctions on America’s primary trade partner. 

The back and forth sanctions between the United States and China raised many red flags. They interrupted the established supply chains and sent businesses scrambling to find new ways to obtain the materials or goods they needed to survive. This also led to rising costs for the consumer.

Moreover, the trade war between the world’s two largest economies also had an impact on the crude oil market, which has been in a state of crisis for several years already.

Secondly, climate change concerns were also on everybody’s mind in 2018. More worrisome data about global warming created a greater sense of urgency for countries to switch to renewable energy sources.

What Is Fintech?

The name of this sector comes from the words finance and technology. Simply put, it refers to digital solutions that offer financial services. For example, an e-bank that doesn’t have any physical offices is a fintech enterprise. Other common categories of fintech companies include digital insurance companies or even new blockchains and cryptocurrency networks. 

How Did Fintech Fare in 2018?

As we already hinted above, the fintech field did well in 2018. Despite all the problems the world had to deal with, companies continued to innovate and present new electronic solutions to make our lives more comfortable. 

More and more investors and venture capitalists saw the potential of finance technology and chose to back that type of start-ups in 2018. In fact, the total volume of investment in Fintech in 2018 across Asia, Europe, and the Americas was close to $112 billion, more than double the 2017 amount.

The impressive spike in investments reflects an increasing interest in the fintech field around the globe. This trend is consistent with the growing demand for digital services in our fast-paced reality.

The Official Fintech50 2018 List

Each year, a panel of highly-acclaimed specialists in the fintech and investment fields gather to determine the top 50 companies for the respective year. It was no different in 2018.

Considering the unprecedented boom in fintech, this year the experts had over 1,800 names to review. From insurance companies to digital banks and new blockchain technology, the panel had its hands full of promising options. 

Together, they discussed the advantages each company offered. They looked at the demand for that particular service, as well as how scalable and future-proof the business model of each brand was.

After much deliberation, they were able to select the top 50 fintech companies that outshone the rest. Among the top performing names in 2018 there are major blockchains and leading competitors in the in the cryptocurrency field. 

Do you have any guesses as to what companies made it to the Fintech50 2018 list? Fintech experts believe everyone on that list is worth keeping your eye on in the years to come, whether you are an investor, a retail trader, or just curious about finance technology. 

Here’s the Fintech50 2018 list:

1. Acorns – an investment platform dedicated to micro-investing and robo-investing
2. Addepar – an investment platform for wealth management
3. Adyen – a platform providing payment services
4. Affirm – a loan company offering pay over time options for online purchases
5. Ayasdi – a platform offering analytics and solutions to complex data for organizations
6. Better Mortgage – a company providing online mortgage services
7. Betterment – a company providing digital investment and money management services
8. Blend – a lending platform offering mortgage and loan services
9. Blockchain – world’s most popular cryptocurrency wallet
10. Cadre – a company expanding access to real estate investments
11. Chain – a cryptocurrency and NFT platform
12. Chainalysis – a tech solution helping governments, consumers and businesses embrace cryptocurrency
13. CircleUp – an investment company that provides funding and support to start-up consumer brands
14. Coinbase – a secure platform for trading and storing digital currency
15. CommonBond – an online lending company providing private student loans
16. Credit Karma – a company providing personal credit report and credit score
17. Digital Reasoning – a software developer building AI cognitive computing platforms for businesses
18. Earnin – a free paycheck app that allow users to draw money before payday
19. Ellevest – an international wealth management platform
20. Enigma – a data science company providing intelligence about businesses
21. Feedzai – a real-time machine learning tool to manage financial risk
22. Forter – a tech giant helping improve safety across e-commerce and business settings
23. Fundrise – an investment platform dedicated to real estate
24. GreenSky – a platform offering financial services and solutions to all size of businesses
25. Guideline – a great way to help employees find the best services and retirement plans
26. Gusto – company providing benefit plans and HR management for businesses
27. iCapital Network – a platform providing alternative investment solutions
28. IEX Group – a stock exchange based in the USA
29. Kabbage – a company providing direct funding to businesses and consumers
30. Kensho – a machine intelligence and analytics system to analyze the impact of specific events
31. Lemonade – a company offering health insurance to homeowners and pes
32. LendingHome – a lending company helping real estate investors
33. Metromile – an insurance platform offering pay-per-mile vehicle insurance
34. Plaid – a fintech that helps other parties build fintech solutions
35. Qapital – a personal finance mobile app offering financial solutions
36. Quandl – a platform for data delivering alternative financial and economic datasets
37. Remitly – a technology offering innovative payment solutions
38. Ripple – a blockchain-based payment network with its own XRP cryptocurrency
39. Robinhood – a unique platform for trading cryptocurrencies, stocks and ETFs with zero commission
40. Shapeshift – a cryptocurrency exchange
41. Stripe – provides APIs for payment processes that can be integrated into a website or mobile app
42. Symbiont – providing blockchain technology to financial markets
43. Symphony – an innovative platform offering intelligent trading solutions
44. Tala – a fintech company playing an important role in helping entrepreneurs and the unbanked
45. The Bitfury Group – a cryptocurrency mining and blockchain-based company
46. TransferWise (Wise) – an online account for sending or receiving payments in other currencies
47. Trumid – an advanced electronic trading platform
48. Upstart – an AI lending platform providing alternative lending solutions to consumers
49. Veem – a global payment platform
50. Xapo – a multi-currency digital wallet

Wonder who were the top 50 competitors in the past? Have a look at our previous Fintech50 lists to find out.

• The Fintech50 2016 List
• The Fintech50 2016 Part 2
• The Fintech50 2017 List

Disclaimer

This Fintech50 article aims to inform you about the state of the industry without providing investment advice. Do your own research or consult a professional if you plan to start trading. Bear in mind that all investments pose a risk to your capital.