How Boston Fintech is Boosting like the Major Global Fintech Hubs
The city of Boston, which serves as the state capital and is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States, is experiencing a great deal of success in the financial technology sector. The people, companies, pipeline, money, and resources that are important parts of a fintech ecosystem are present in the Boston Fintech ecosystem. This places Boston on the appropriate footing to compete with other global fintech centres.
The term “fintech” refers to any and all technical advancements made in the financial industry. CB insights recently published a report in which they discovered that the 10 largest banks in the United States invested a total of up to $3.6 billion in 56 different fintech start-ups between the years of 2012 and 2017. This information was revealed by the report that was published. It is common knowledge that global financial technology centres like London, New York City, and Silicon Valley place a significant emphasis on commercial and financial activities.
According to Doug Nelson, the author of Taking Stock of the Boston Fintech Landscape 2017, the financial technology ecosystem in Boston has undergone a significant amount of good development over the course of the past several years. Enterprise software for the buy side has traditionally been one of the city’s strengths, and many local businesses, including Interactive Data, Charles River, Eze Castle, Linedata, and Intext, have been quite successful in recent years.
In addition, Nelson notes that the second wave of Boston’s fintech industry has witnessed a flurry of new fintech startups outside of the corporate software market, with a particular concentration on payments and insurance technology. The city has witnessed the proliferation of “non-profit meetups” over the course of the past three years, such as fintech sandbox, the Boston Fintech Meetup, MIT Fintech, and Insurtech Boston, all of which have contributed to the infusion of a sense of excitement and energy into the Boston fintech ecosystem as a whole.
Jack Klinck, managing partner at Hyperplane Venture Capital and a former member of the management committee of State Street, has a positive outlook on the financial technology ecosystem that can be found in Boston. He is of the opinion that the location possesses all of the necessary elements to be successful in the fintech industry. He discusses the following five characteristics that have contributed to the city’s status as a centre for the financial technology industry:
- Excellent educational institutions that are fertile ground for the development of ideas, skills, and technologies
- Immigration, entrepreneurship, and everything else that is required to maintain talent in place are all supported by the elected leaders of Boston.
- Large financial firms including as banks, hedge funds, money managers, and insurance companies call the city their home.
- Availability of new businesses and business incubators
- Accessibility of financial resources Universities
Young financial technology businesses in the Boston area are receiving financial support from local universities like MIT. The Martin Trust Centre for MIT Entrepreneurship recently began its MIT Delta v course and has begun providing students with the opportunity to fly to New York City if the category of fintech best describes their firm.
Companies
In the city of Boston, there are a significant number of fintech businesses now in operation. One of these is called Quantopian, and its mission is to encourage exceptionally brilliant people all over the world to develop investment algorithms. Toast, Flywire, and LearnLux are just a handful of the other companies that call this city their home.
Capital
A business based in Cambridge, Massachusetts was able to complete a series B investment round within the first three months of 2017, which resulted in the company closing one of the most significant fintech deals in the United States during that period. During the same time frame, Kensho was successful in raising $50 million, with participation from Wall Street Giants such as JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. Nelson asserts that these investments boost the profile of Boston, which in turn has the impact of attracting more finance startup founders.
What is ahead for financial technology in Boston
According to Klinck, the next big thing in Boston’s financial technology industry will be the implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning, which will have the impact of transforming the entire financial services industry. Nelson, for his part, is of the opinion that mergers and acquisitions are likely to pick up in the next few years, and that one of the more established fintech startups in Boston will cross the $500 million and above level within the next few years as well.
