Financial technology and pandemic have upended the way people handle money and the manner they carry out other transactions. Moreso, what set a fertile ground for change are enormous, including the human desire for easier ways for transacting, advanced modern telecommunication services, increased connectivity in globalization, and many other benefits that they offer which are not possible with traditional banks. Unlike most other sectors that were undermined by the coronavirus pandemic and will have a hard time picking up, the fintech sector grew from strength to strength becoming one of the fastest-growing tech sectors. Its success reflects the growing need for people to do business in a hassle-free manner. In this article, I have reviewed the fastest growing fintech startups that were founded by youngsters. The other criteria are the company’s innovative approach to business, market valuation, thought-breaking business growth strategy, and its market share of customers.
1. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum
Although the company has a list of co-founders who contributed to the launch of the crypto giant, 27-year-old Vitalik Buterin proposed Ethereum in 2013, making his mark in the fintech space. Ethereum is one of the leading digitally traded open-source decentralized blockchain services second to Bitcoin by market capitalization.
Ether (ETH) the native cryptocurrency was premined in 2015 with 72 million bitcoins. It uses decentralized finance (DApps) which has been used by various industrial platforms. Today, Ethereum has over $207 billion as its market cap.
2. Maximilian Tayenthal and Valentin Stalf, N26
If you are an international student planning to immigrate to Germany, chances are that you considered N26 as the mobile banking option for your Konto gesperrt (blocked account). In a country like Germany where Bargeld ist König (cash is king) and Europe trolling behind America and China in Fintech innovation, these two built a $3.5 billion company that is now shaking up traditional banks in Europe and its surroundings. The company was established in 2013 after nearly 300 investor rejections, becoming one of the most valued tech startups in Europe.
An innovative feature that is peculiar to N26 is the “Space” feature. This allows customers to create a wallet within the app apportioning expenses as deemed appropriate from the main wallet to the smaller wallet. Since their initial product launch in 2015 and rebranding in 2016 changing their name from Number26 to N26, N26 has grown a large customer base of over 4.5 million people in about 29 markets
The duo had the vision to create that the world would love and have positioned to reach over 100 million customers. The CEO and co-founder Valentin Stalf is just 35-years-old while his friend Maximilian Tayenthal is the co-founder and CFO.
3. Eugene Danilkis and Frederik Pfisterer Mambu
The major business ideology at Mambu is “Banking has Changed”, clearly written on their website. Truly, mambu has changed the face of banking, becoming the leading SaaS cloud fintech company, the first of its kind.
Mambu exerts its innovative strategy in the fintech space by providing a banking service that allows customers to create and change their banking products without codes. It also offers banks the opportunity to upgrade their banking services rapidly without the challenges of the behind-the-scenes-technicalities, giving their clients a competitive edge over their competitors. Serving over 150 financial institutions plus 14 million end-users with their tech clout, the company raised over $152 million in funding bringing it to a $2.1 billion valuation.
4. Patrick and John Collison, Stripe
Stripe, a SaaS company, was founded in 2010 by these two Irish brothers. Their market niche was to provide a robust financial transaction platform for online businesses and mobile apps. Stripe has an API platform that allows web developers to integrate payment features and application program interface into their online businesses.
One of its online products offers loans and also allows corporate clients to offer credit and master cards to their customers. For the security of online transactions, the fintech behemoth in 2018 added Radar, an anti-fraud tool designed to track and reduce fraudulent transactions.
Stripe’s tough competitive edge makes it the strongest competitor of Paypal valued at $115 billion. Should the company decide to go public, the two young billionaires Patrick 32 and John 30 intend to keep the larger market share.
5. Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase
If you are trading cryptocurrency, chances are that Coinbase is your take-off point on that venture. This tech titan has over 43 million-plus verified users scattered across 100 countries, making their trading easy, efficient, and seamless.
The crypto boom vaulted the billion-dollar worth startup with its revenue standing between $1 and $2 billion for 2020 and a market valuation of $100 billion dollars. It plans to sell 114.9 million shares in its plan to go public next month.
At 38, Armstrong is already driving the wave of the crypto market, making him a young billionaire that people should keep their eyes on.
Are you interested in FinTech and startups and young entrepreneurs? You may like our stories on other FinTech startups:
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