The nonprofit continues to be in high demand from early-stage startups as it makes a positive impact with its programming and community-led events
BOSTOM, MA / ACCESSWIRE / January 24, 2023 / Fintech Sandboxa non-profit organization that provides early-stage startups around the world with free access to critical datasets and resources, experienced significant growth in 2022, including global expansion of the organization’s Data Access Residency and a return to in-person community-led events, including Boston Fintech Week. This momentum positions the organization for further growth and success in the coming year, further cementing its integral role in supporting startups in an uncertain economic environment.
“Despite funding tightening and economic uncertainty, fintech, especially in the early stages, is alive and kicking – we’re seeing no shortage of new founders coming to the Fintech Sandbox for support,” said Kelly Fryer, CEO, Fintech Sandbox. “Our mission to provide world-class data access and programming to bring innovation to fintech and financial services is all the more important at this moment. More and more entrepreneurs need our support, data, advice and community – making 2023 a more important year than ever.”
Global reach continues to expand with increase in data access residents
Fintech Sandbox increased its presence on the world map, with a clear emphasis on inclusive and sustainable finance. Some highlights include:
- 38 new startups on five continents added to its data access home – This represents an increase of over 80 percent from 2021, bringing the total number of startups involved since the organization’s inception to over 290. The top sectors and subsectors of the startups are financial services and automation, capital markets and institutional trading, asset management, credit scoring and analytics, and corporate lending and financing. The top technologies that the startups focused on are artificial intelligence, automation and big data.
- Four new countries and an African presence – Finland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa each became part of the Fintech Sandbox global representation – with the latter two being the first countries in Africa where the citizens have been based. Additional countries in which new startups are based include Canada, India, Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States
- The portfolio tripled the number of startups with a focus on financial access and ESG – 68 per cent of the organisation’s startups accepted in 2022 have a focus on inclusive and sustainable economics (almost a doubling from 35 per cent in 2021).
- Six new data partners – These include: Argyle, Boss Insights, Digital Finance, Financial Information Inc., MSCI and SQX. Fintech Sandbox also expanded its data offerings from four of the organization’s longtime partners, including the Associated Press, Dow Jones, FactSet and Moody’s Analytics.
- Critical savings for early stage startups – Through the organization’s Data Access Residency, the Fintech Sandbox saved over $5 million in estimated data costs for the startups in 2022.
- Celebrated the most important partnership deals or significant funding rounds for 13 former residents – These include: Clarity AI, Cinchy, Intellibonds, Layr, Merkle Science, Narmi, Novo, Petal, Pocketnest, Sandbox Banking, Solidus Labs, Stilt and Surround Insurance – and amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in value. Highlights include Petal’s $140 million Series D funding round, Novo’s $125 million Series B funding round, Solidus Labs’ $45 million Series B funding round and Narmi’s $35 million Series B funding round.
Boston Fintech Week returns in person to showcase Fintech’s far-reaching influence on everyday life
The fifth annual Boston Fintech Week was held on 27-29 September. Keynote sessions were held at the iconic Boston Public Library as well as at other locations throughout the city. This year’s theme was “Fintech& – Building Today for an Uncharted Tomorrow”, and the event brought together the global fintech community with illuminating keynotes, panel discussions, networking receptions, community-led events and discussions on the latest advances in fintech that are impacting our everyday lives.
Key highlights including:
- A global participant list – Over 675 participants from 28 countries, including the USA, Canada, the UK, Colombia and Ireland. Over 250 additional people attended fellowship and sponsored events throughout the conference.
- Over 145 speakers took to the stage – Headliners included:
- Greg Smith – Managing Director, FT Partners
- Giedrimas Jeglinskas – Assistant Secretary General, Executive Management, NATO
- Katherine Collins – Head of Sustainable Investment, Putnam
- Michael Schlein – CEO, Accion
- Jim Cunha – Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
- Joe Maxwell – Managing Partner, FINTOP Capital
- Justin Blakes – Co-founder and CEO, Forward Financing
- Michael Meyer – Managing Partner, Middlegame Ventures
- Mike Fanning – Head of MassMutual US
- Rodney Williams – Co-Founder and President, SoLo Funds
- Stephanie Khoo – Partner, Nyca Partners
- An active and far-reaching event plan – The event included a total of 56 events, with 20 hosted by the FinTech Sandbox, 19 by the larger community and 17 by sponsors. Organizational partners also hosted six well-attended receptions throughout the week.
The personal Boston Fintech Week followed the Fintech Sandbox eighth annual demo day, which took place practically on April 22, and gave eight promising startups the opportunity to showcase the technology and products built with the help of the Fintech Sandbox and its partners. The event also featured a fireside chat with Adrienne Harris, Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, and included two in-person receptions. The organization is eager to soon announce participating startups and exact dates for the ninth annual Demo Day, scheduled for April 2023.
The Fintech Sandbox promotes innovation in the financial sector by making data and infrastructure available to early-stage fintech startups, at the time when access to this typically expensive data is most impactful. Fintech Sandbox startups in turn collaborate with current and former residents, sharing learnings and advances that benefit the ecosystem.
For more information about joining as a startup, community member, or as a data or infrastructure partner, please get in touch [email protected]or visit .
About Fintech Sandbox
Fintech Sandbox is a non-profit organization that provides a stage for entrepreneurs worldwide by providing free access to critical datasets and resources to build their early stage fintech products through the Data Access Residency. Fintech Sandbox startups in turn collaborate with current and former residents, sharing learnings and advances that benefit the ecosystem. Participating startups – more than 290 so far – pay no fees and no equity is taken. Boston Fintech Week and Lots of Fintech Hubs – a public-private partnership dedicated to making the Commonwealth a global leader in fintech – are initiatives under the Fintech Sandbox umbrella. For more information, please visit and https://www.twitter.com/FintechSandbox.
Contact information:
David Yaghutiel
408-449-6971
[email protected]
SOURCE: FinTech Sandbox
