HexGn Research · 2018
Top 50 FinTech Startups of 2018
HexGn’s 2018 watch-list of 50 FinTech companies — who they were, where they were based, and what they did.
This is an archived HexGn research list from 2018, preserved for reference. It captures the FinTech companies our analysts flagged as ones to watch that year — a snapshot of where the sector’s momentum was building. For a current read on FinTech across the India–Gulf corridor, see our Research & Intelligence practice.
The list
50 FinTech names, ranked
Paytm
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Paytm is India’s largest mobile commerce platform and mobile payments company.
Stripe
San Francisco, California, United States
Stripe provides a set of unified APIs and tools that instantly enable businesses to accept and manage online payments.
Kickstarter
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform for creative projects such as movies, music, art, theater, games, comics, design, and photography.
TransferWise
San Carlos, California, United States
TransferWise is an money transfer service allowing private individuals and businesses to send money abroad without hidden charges.
SeedInvest
Brooklyn, New York, United States
SeedInvest is a leading equity crowdfunding platform that provides investors with access to highly vetted startup investment opportunities.
Funding Circle
London, England, United Kingdom
Funding Circle is a lending platform focused exclusively on small businesses operating in in the U.S., the U.K. and Continental Europe.
Acorns
Irvine, California, United States
Acorns is a finance company that allows individuals to round up purchases and automatically invest the change.
Blockchain
London, England, United Kingdom
Blockchain is a web-based bitcoin platform that makes using bitcoin safe, easy, and secure for all consumers and businesses worldwide.
Monzo
London, England, United Kingdom
Building a bank as smart as your phone. Intelligent notifications, instant balance updates and financial management.
Coinbase
San Francisco, California, United States
Coinbase is an online platform that allows merchants, consumers, and traders to transact with digital currency.
WeLab
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong
WeLab analyzes unstructured mobile big data within seconds to make credit decisions for individual borrowers.
Seedrs
London, England, United Kingdom
Seedrs is the leading online platform for investing in the equity of startups and other growth companies in Europe and has been named the most active investor in private companies in the UK.
Crowdcube
Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
Crowdcube, a crowdfunding service, enables individuals to invest or loan in small companies in return for equity or an annual return.
Revolut
London, England, United Kingdom
Revolut’s mission is to build a fair and frictionless platform to use and manage money around the world
Kabbage
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Kabbage is a financial technology company. Its fully automated technology and data platform powers lending directly and for its partners.
N26
Berlin, Berlin, Germany
N26 is a Berlin-based fintech company that enables its customers to manage their bank accounts through their smartphones.
Blockstream
Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Blockstream is a FinTech company that works to accelerate innovation in crypto currencies, open assets, and smart contracts.
SoFi
San Francisco, California, United States
SoFi is a modern finance company taking an unprecedented approach to lending and wealth management
Robinhood
Palo Alto, California, United States
Robinhood is a stock brokerage that allows customers to buy and sell U.S. listed stocks and ETFs with zero commission
Plaid
San Francisco, California, United States
Plaid is an API to power developers of financial services applications and help them connect with user bank accounts
Wealthfront
Redwood City, California, United States
Wealthfront is the largest and fastest growing automated investment service, with over $2 billion in assets under management.
Ripple
San Francisco, California, United States
Ripple offers a global real-time payment system that enables banks and financial institutions around the world to directly transact with each other without the need for a central correspondent.
Credit Sesame
Mountain View, California, United States
Credit Sesame is the fastest growing consumer financial wellness company with exclusive focus on helping consumers manage their credit and loans better.
OurCrowd
Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Israel
OurCrowd breaks barriers to startup investing, providing global, VC-level dealflow, due diligence and terms to accredited investors.
Circle
Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Circle is a consumer finance company focused on transforming the world economy with secure, simple, and less costly technology for storing and using money.
Affirm
San Francisco, California, United States
Affirm is a financial technology services company, offers installment loans to consumers at the point of sale.
BitPay
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
BitPay is the global leader in bitcoin payment processing with offices throughout North America, Europe, and South America.
LendUp
San Francisco, California, United States
LendUp is a socially responsible lender for the 56% of Americans shut out of mainstream banking due to low credit or volatile income.
Indiegogo
San Francisco, California, United States
Indiegogo is a global crowdfunding platform empowering people around the world to fund projects that matter to them.
MoneyMe
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
MoneyMe is a lending platform providing unsecured personal loans to the tech-savvy, convenience-driven millennial market in Australia
Quoine
Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
Quoine is a web-based bitcoin trading platform that allows its users to trade virtual currencies for fiat currencies.
RateSetter
London, England, United Kingdom
RateSetter is a P2P lending website allowing users to lend and borrow money directly with each other according to their own interest rates.
Lendable
London, England, United Kingdom
AUK P2P lending platform. Instant decisions and personalised rates.
bitFlyer
Japan, Asia
bitFlyer is a Bitcoin exchange and marketplace that enables its customers to buy, sell, and spend bitcoins.
DAYLI Financial Group
Seoul, South Korea
A leading Fintech company in Asia providing data tech solutions, digital wealth management, and lead-generation services.
Betterment
New York, New York, United States
Betterment is a goal-based online investment company, delivering personalized financial advice paired with low fees and customer experience.
Starling Bank
London, England, United Kingdom
UK Mobile only Bank Account built from scratch, making banking as simple as using your smartphone.
Revel Systems
San Francisco, California, United States
Revel Systems provides an iPad point of sale solution for restaurant and retail establishments.
Waddle
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Proprietary technology that leverages analytics from accounting & bank data to provide automated revolving credit lines to business.
Active.ai
Singapore, Central Region, Singapore
Active.ai is a service platform that connects consumers with their banks via micro conversation.
Xapo
Palo Alto, California, United States
Xapo combines the convenience of an everyday bitcoin wallet with the security of a deep cold storage vault.
Remitly
Seattle, Washington, United States
Remitly is a mobile payments service that enables users to make person-to-person international money transfers from the United States.
BUX
Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands
BUX is a trading application that makes trading stocks accessible as well as educational.
Featurespace
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Featurespace is a UK-based provider of adaptive behavioral analytic technology and services such as the ARIC engine
iZettle
Stockholm, Stockholms Lan, Sweden
iZettle, a mobile payments company, offers small businesses with portable point-of-sale solutions and free sales overview tools.
WorldRemit
London, England, United Kingdom
WorldRemit is a money transfer service that helps migrants send money to their loved ones all over the world.
MobiKwik
Gurgaon, Haryana, India
MobiKwik is a popular mobile wallet app in India. Millions of Indians use it for shopping, P2P money transfer, & bill payments.
Addepar
Mountain View, California, United States
Addepar is an investment management platform for investors and advisors.
Expensify
San Francisco, California, United States
Expensify is a financial services startup that provides an online expense management service for customers worldwide.
Personal Capital
San Carlos, California, United States
Personal Capital is an online investment advisory platform that provides its clients with electronically facilitated wealth management services, objective advice, and strategies.
Want the current corridor view on FinTech?
This is an archived 2018 HexGn research report, kept online for reference. For an up-to-date read on FinTech across the India–Gulf corridor — and what it means for your next move — talk to our research team.