HexGn Research · 2019
Top FinTech Startups 2019
HexGn’s 2019 watch-list of standout FinTech startups — the companies reshaping the sector, with where they were based and what they did.
This is an archived HexGn research list from 2019, preserved for reference — the FinTech startups our analysts singled out as ones to watch. For a current read on FinTech across the India–Gulf corridor, see our Research & Intelligence practice.
The list
49 FinTech startups to watch
Ant Financial
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Ant Financial is an online payment services provider that enables individuals and businesses to execute payments online in a secure manner.
N26
Berlin, Germany
N26 helps its customers manage their bank accounts through their smartphones.
Transferwise
London, England, United Kingdom
TransferWise is a money transfer service allowing private individuals and businesses to send money abroad withou hidden charges
MarketInvoice
London, England, United Kingdom
MarketInvoice is a fintech firm providing business finance solutions that help companies grow.
Momo
Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam
Momo is an ewallet and payments app that allows users to pay online and transfer money to each other digitally.
Coinbase
San Francisco, California, United States
Coinbase is a digital currency wallet service that allows traders to buy and sell bitcoin.
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.
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.
Indiegogo
San Francisco, California, United States
Indiegogo is a crowdfunding platform empowering people around the world to fund projects that matter to them.
Paytm
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Paytm is an Indian electronic payment and e-commerce brand based out of Delhi NCR.
JD Digits
Beijing, China
JD Digits (formerly JD Finance) works to connect financial and physical industries with digital technology.
Atom Bank
Durham, United Kingdom
Atom Bank is a mobile banking application that offers a range of personal and business banking products.
Divvy
Lehi, Utah, United States
Divvy helps businesses manage payments and subscriptions, build strategic budgets, and eliminate expense reports.
Robinhood
Menlo Park, California, United States
Robinhood is a stock brokerage that allows customers to buy and sell U.S. listed stocks and ETFs with zero commission
Wealthfront
Redwood City, California, United States
The only automated financial advisor offering financial planning, investment management and banking-related services all on a mobile app.
OurCrowd
Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Israel
OurCrowd breaks barriers to startup investing, providing global, VC-level dealflow, due diligence and terms to accredited investors.
Scripbox
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Scripbox owns and operates an online investing platform that distributes mutual funds in India.
Dosh
Austin, Texas, United States
Dosh is a free cash back app that finds users money for shopping, dining out, and pumping gas at thousands of merchants & brands nationwide.
ZestMoney
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Zest is India’s first completely automated consumer digital lending platform.
Carta
Palo Alto, California, United States
Carta is building a global ownership management platform, and helps companies, investors, and employees manage equity.
Revolut
London, England, United Kingdom
Revolut is a digital banking alternative for instant payment notifications: free international money transfers and global fee-free spending.
Vena Solutions
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Vena provides intuitive budgeting, planning and forecasting software for medium and large sized companies.
MobiKwik
Gurgaon, Haryana, Indiaa
MobiKwik is a payments backed fintech platform in India. MobiKwik App offers instant loans & investment products to the 500M consumers of India
Earnin
Palo Alto, California, United States
Earnin gives people access to their pay directly from their smartphones, whenever they need it.
Akulaku
Jakarta, Jakarta Raya, Indonesia
Akulaku is a financial services provider for the urban working class in the SEA market.
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, provides personalized advice and financial planning technology. More than two million users access the company’s dashboard to get a holistic view of their finances and create plans for improving their financial preparedness.
SoFi
San Francisco, California, United States
SoFi is a modern finance company taking an unprecedented approach to lending and wealth management.
Monzo
London, England, United Kingdom
Monzo is a bank for people who live their lives on their smartphones, and is targeted at people who want to get things done in a click and who don’t see the need for branches and cheque books.
Starling Bank
London, England, United Kingdom
Starling Bank is a UK mobile-only bank offering personal, joint and business accounts.
Iwoca
London, England, United Kingdom
Iwoca offers flexible credit to small businesses across Europe, allowing them to take advantage of opportunities previously only available to their larger peers.
Affirm
San Francisco, California, United States
Affirm is a financial technology services company that offers installment loans to consumers at the point of sale.
BitPay
Alpharetta, Georgia, United States
BitPay is a payment processor for the peer-to-peer digital currency, Bitcoin.
Kabbage
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Kabbage is a financial technology and data company pioneering a new, automated way for small businesses to access working capital.
Nubank
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Nubank issues, administrates, processes, and transfers payments related to post-paid credit cards and equity investment in other entities.
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.
Instamojo
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Instamojo is an on-demand payments platform, on both web & mobile that allows individuals and small businesses to collect payments online by sharing a link with their audience.
SunFunder
Nairobi, Nairobi Area, Kenya
SunFunder is a solar energy finance business with a mission to provide debt financing for solar assets in emerging economies.
Blend
San Francisco, California, United States
Blend’s engineers and data scientists are making the high stakes mortgage transaction better for borrowers and lenders. They are changing the way the entire industry operates.
Growth Street
London, England, United Kingdom
Growth Street offers UK businesses a faster alternative to bank overdrafts.
AccessPay
London, England, United Kingdom
AccessPay develops cloud-based payment and cash management solutions
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.
Chime
San Francisco, California, United States
Chime helps members avoid bank fees, save money automatically, and lead healthier financial lives.
Acorns
Irvine, California, United States
Acorns is a finance company that allows individuals to round up purchases and automatically invest the change.
Blockstream
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Blockstream is the global leader in Bitcoin & blockchain technology, making financial markets more efficient by reducing reliance on trust.
Clearbanc
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Clearbanc provides growth capital for web-enabled businesses using actual business data instead of a personal credit score.
Circle
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Circle is a global internet finance company, built on blockchain technology and powered by crypto assets.
Razorpay
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Razorpay is the only payments solution in India which allows businesses to accept, process and disburse payments with its product suite.
CrediFi
New York, United States
With data on over 2.2 million properties and CRE loans, CrediFi’s mission is to bring information transparency to the Commercial Real Estate industry.
Want the current corridor view on FinTech?
This is an archived 2019 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.