Ohio’s Fintech71 Welcomes Inaugural Global Cohort

Fintech71 announces 10 startups selected for the accelerator’s first year.

Ohio’s innovative spirit and Midwestern hospitality are proving to be a great fit for a sophisticated, tech-savvy financial services environment, and that is solidified with Fintech71. Earlier this year, Fintech71, a nonprofit financial services accelerator supported by leading financial and nonfinancial companies, was launched in Ohio. The accelerator is dedicated to advancing financial services innovation and showcasing the many resources available to do so in Ohio.

Through the years, Ohio has been a quite success – a top five U.S. financial services economy – yet it has flown relatively low under the radar as a force. But the time has come to put Ohio on the map as a Midwestern fintech hub. This is how Fintech71 was born.

The accelerator gained interest from industry leaders looking to mentor or participate. Just in its first year, the accelerator received hundreds of applications from across the globe.

On September 12, following intensive rounds of technical and qualitative reviews, Fintech71 announced its inaugural group of 10 companies. The competition was fierce, and the decision was not easy. The selection committee and the board had multiple rounds of discussion, thinking carefully through the criteria.

To qualify, startups were required to have a minimum of one fintech product or solution, and at least two members of their teams must personally attend the program in its entirety. Over the next 10 weeks, each member of the cohort will receive $100,000 in exchange for a flexible, stage-appropriate equity stake, six months of free office space from the start of the program in downtown Columbus, introductions to potential clients and stakeholders across Ohio, access to over 100 world-class leaders and mentors, and other benefits.

Fintech71 is ready for the class. Our mentors, sponsors, partners, and the Ohio financial and IT communities are all excited to welcome these amazing teams. Will there be a couple of unicorns in the group? We sure hope so! Now, here they are:

Congratulations to the inaugural Fintech71 members for a job well done:

• Billon (UK) – Blockchain-based payments platform
• Elafris (US/San Francisco) – AI/virtual insurance agent
• Hexanika (India/NYC) – End-to-end regtech and big data automation for banks
• ID-Pal (Ireland) – KYC authentication and onboarding solution
• James (Portugal/NYC) – Machine learning credit risk solution for banks
• LateShift (US/Atlanta) – Income optimization tool for independent workforce
• PayKey (Israel) – White-label money transfer to anyone on any social platform
• SafeChain (US/Ohio) – Title insurance optimization via blockchain
• SKOOKii (US/Phoenix) – All-in-one payment platform for K-12 schools
• “Stealth” stage (US/Ohio) – Commercial insurance technology for agents

Over the next several weeks, JobsOhio will be sharing the stories of each company – who they are and what they’re doing to change the future of finance as well as their Fintech71 experience. Visit our Financial Services page and follow JobsOhio on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for more.

The program officially starts the week of September 18 and will finish by Thanksgiving. Please stay in touch and join us for the social events and other activities across Ohio and beyond.