2024/2025 Request for Fintech Startups

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Emerging From Fintech's Cold Snap

Financial services are entering into a new era defined by AI + further regulation. Large banks and FI's are as powerful as ever, best in class scaled fintech companies are continuing to compound efficiently, fintech valuations have normalized, and the tectonic shift of AI is bringing about massive step changes in efficiency.

The coming decade of innovation in fintech will be underpinned by a few core themes, including:

Gradual (and then sudden) adoption of AI as companies start to realize actual operational gains
Increasing digitalization of legacy financial services outside of core banking
Increased demand for novel identity and fraud products
Increased regulatory scrutiny and actions across banking and fintech
New real time payment rail adoption

Bank Infrastructure + Software

The pandemic dramatically accelerated the need for digital adoption across the banking landscape. Banks have also now become an incredibly lucrative customer base for start-ups to sell into. Advancements in agentic technology have now created an opportunity to streamline and automate the work done by armies of operations and support teams.

Codegen for core modernization: As codegen tools mature, can they finally start to tackle the root of the problem: reducing friction on the path toward new cores and off mainframes?
Modern payments infrastructure for banks: Consumers and businesses now expect money to move faster and settle instantly.
Verticalized loan-origination systems (LOS): Help banks and non-bank lenders modernize lending operations.
Bank-facing governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) software: Purpose-built for banking.
Treasury management solutions for banks: Visibility into current positions and scenario planning.
Next gen RPA for deposit operations: Check processing, lockbox operations, wire approvals + fraud detection.
Verticalized ITSM for IT ticketing and auto-remediation: Agentic central ticketing connecting internal departments.

Risk / Fraud / Compliance

Solutions tackling first party fraud: As money movement friction goes to zero, first party fraud is skyrocketing.
Financial crime "pentesting" / "redteaming": AI platform for red team financial crime + dark web fraud vectors.
Next gen RPA for back office operations: Automating AML reviews, sanctions checks, escheatment, call center verification.
Anti-money laundering (AML) software: Designed for a real time world where SWIFT processes 45M transactions a day.

Insurance + Wealth Management (RIAs)

Producer management software: Commissions are a cross-functional, multi-party jigsaw puzzle.
Insurance and RIA compliance software: Managing licensing for agents and advisors.
Next generation of underwriting: Rebuilding submission, intake, underwriting, clearing, triage, and broker management.
Third party administrators: Streamlining claims, compliance, and administrative services.

Tech-Enabled Services / Vertical BPO-in-a-Box

GenAI opens the ability to "sell work" instead of software. The ideal model guarantees 80-95% accuracy, reducing costs by 80%.

SMB tax return software
Legal: Vertical legal solutions from employment to contract review
Audit: Agentic platforms for end to end audit workflows
BPO for banking / insurance: AI products replacing deposit operations, loan operations, call centers

Capital Markets

Back-office trade operations: Post-trade operations trending to T+0 settlement
Transfer agents: A duopoly ripe for disruption
New securities lending infrastructure: $34T of lendable securities
Private markets software: $15T of AUM growing 15% yoy

Payments... and Crypto!

Payments for professional services: Specialized billing and payments for lawyers, accountants, consultants
Stablecoin infrastructure and B2B use cases: Instant settlement and lower costs internationally
Agentic payments / defi: AI to AI crypto transactions pushing the boundaries
Healthcare payments: RCM solutions for smaller independent providers
Top-of wallet / card management: Optimizing stored payment information and card usage

If you're building in one of these spaces, please reach out!