The Boston financial sector reinvents itself and becomes a leading hub for FinTech innovation
Boston is the birthplace of our country’s’ financial institutions – banks that were founded just after the revolution and which fueled US commercial growth and its westward expansion. Today, Boston’s financial sector is digging into its historical and cultural roots and undergoing a renaissance by combining hundreds of years of sector knowledge with the region’s other strength: technology innovation.
Along with New York, Boston is emerging as one of the hottest locations globally for FinTech. In 2016 alone, Boston FinTech startups raised $248 million — up significantly in dollar volume from the two previous years. Blockchain payments company, Circle, raised a whopping $60 million in 2016 on top of $50 million raised in 2015.
Boston FinTech startups cover close to the entire financial ecosystem including insurance, payments, analytics, student loans, lending, consumer savings, asset management, security, real estate and crowdfunding. Global payments company, BlueSnap, is revolutionizing payments via its next-generation global payment gateway. Insurify aims to be the fastest way to compare car insurance quotes with its technology platform that helps to find the best deal. EverTrue applies modern social media analytics to the traditional field of higher-education fund-raising – successfully modernizing a process that had been traditionally handled by outdated spreadsheets. Eat your heart out, Silicon Valley!
But it’s not just about investment, Boston boasts one of the most supportive ecosystems with larger financial players nurturing new, innovative companies. The DCU FinTech Innovation Center, near South Station, is one of these influential hubs supporting innovation. Developed by Digital Federal Credit Union, the innovation center offers office space to selected startups, mentorship, contact with DCU executives, and access to financial datasets through its partner, FinTech Sandbox.
Doni, Inc., a NewCo Boston host company, is just one of the dozen FinTech startups at DCU; Doni is a goal achievement platform where users articulate their goals, save together, give to others and take back control of their personal data.
Doni will be sharing its inspiring story firsthand with a NewCo session at their home in the DCU FinTech Innovation Center on April 6th at 2:30pm. Founder and FinTech pioneer, Ronald Verbrugge, will be presenting on the social and technical forces driving the FinTech revolution.
