3 promising FinTechs in New York to watch out for in 2021

By Edlyn Cardoza

America’s largest and most popular metropolitan statistical area is New York City. New York is one of the great hubs for technological innovation in the world and is possibly the most powerful city in the finance sector.

New York City may not be as great as it is for Jeff Bezos, but it is definitely the largest city in the world for a multitude of FinTech companies. Hence, NYC has paved way for a lot of fast-growing companies and start-ups. Below is a list of 3 hottest NYC FinTech companies to keep an eye on in 2021.

Betterment (2008) |$257M: Betterment is a digital wealth manager, which is well-known with the millennial population. It is known for its “robo-advisor” – algorithm which selects investments and creates a diversified portfolio for its clients, which is designed to achieve optimal returns at all risk levels. It aims to democratize investment for those who want to make extra cash or plan for retirement.

According to the company figures, more than 150,000 customers are currently investing $4 billion with Betterment. Betterment added 100,000 customers, in 2018. More than $275m was raised in funding.

Petal (2016) | $41.6M: A start-up in NY – Petal, is a FinTech and credit card company that uses several types of data in order to offer users more credit options. Since they analyse more financial data, Petal can offer higher limits to first time credit users or those without traditional credit scores. It helps users build a healthy credit history while monitoring payments and adhering to spending limits.

American individuals who belong to the low-income group or are immigrants, who also often face difficulty accessing credit cards may have the option to use Petal-issued Visas for their daily purchases. This New York FinTech company offers credit line of up to $10,000 to its customers. Petal raised a $300 million debt round, in September 2019. This was added to the investment from Valar Ventures, which is co-founded by Peter Thiel.

Policygenius (2014) | $150M: Policygenius, an insurtech company, that helps users find the most effective, personalized insurance policy. Those looking for life, disability, pet, auto, homeowners and more must fill out a small questionnaire and Policygenius will match them with the top three insurance policies as per their needs.

Policygenius has raised over $150 M in four funding rounds, this is also inclusive of the Series D funding in January 2020, which was led by global investment firm KKR.

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