Recent research by Citigroup (C) projects that revenues of financial technology startups will leap 10 times, to more than $100 billion, in the next four years. Here are a handful of companies with major growth potential.
Digital Assets Holdings
Year founded: 2014
Notable Investors: Citigroup, IBM
High-frequency traders can swap stocks in milliseconds, but it still takes a day or more for the money to move in many of Wall Street’s markets. Digital Asset Holding plans to speed that using blockchain—the technology behind Bitcoin. Blythe Masters, a pioneer of credit default swaps at JPMorgan Chase, joined as CEO last year.
Kensho
Year founded: 2013
Notable investors: Goldman Sachs, Xfund
It’s Siri for Wall Street. The AI software uses big data to analyze new events, answer traders’ questions, and spit out reports predicting where markets are headed. Kensho has the potential to replace the Street’s trove of market strategists, and its ability to crunch data and offer advice should make investment bankers nervous too.
SoFi
Year founded: 2011
Notable investors: Peter Thiel, Softbank
SoFi, the online lending platform, made a splash earlier this year with a Super Bowl commercial trying to appeal to upwardly mobile millennials. The lender has drawn scrutiny for using an internal hedge fund to fund its loans. But SoFi has a lower default rate than its rivals, and Moody’s recently rated the company’s debt triple A.
Stripe
Year founded: 2011
Notable investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Elon Musk
Stripe’s platform allows any company to begin accepting customer payments in minutes—either by credit card or directly from a bank account. And Stripe wants to compete globally. In early June, when rival PayPal said it was pulling out of Turkey, Stripe CEO Patrick Collision tweeted in Turkish that his company was open for business.
Ripple
Year founded: 2012
Notable investors: Andreessen Horowitz, Barry Silbert
Ripple is using a blockchain technology to create a better way to process payments. Already the start-up, which for now specializes in cross boarder transactions has had a number of banks sign to test its protocol, including Santander and UBS. Ripple says its technology is one-third cheaper than what the banks use now, and can complete transactions in seconds instead of days. And Ripple has good fintech pedigree. It was founded by Chris Larsen, who also started peer-to-peer lender Prosper.
