From Forbes:
Our tenth annual Fintech 50 list highlights businesses that continue to grow rapidly and adapt even as industry valuations and investment in private fintechs remain depressed. Funding for fintech startups fell for a third consecutive year to $34 billion globally in 2024, down from $42 billion in 2023 and $144 billion in 2021, according to CB Insights.
Still, our 2025 list was extremely competitive. Our team of reporters and editors assessed hundreds of fintech companies, evaluating everything from business growth and product novelty to leadership team diversity. We interviewed both CEOs and industry insiders. To be considered, firms need to have their headquarters or substantial operations in the U.S. and can’t be owned by a public company.
Three categories that focus on business services—Payments, Business to Business Banking and Wall Street and Enterprise—had the most success on our list, making up 31 of our 50 picks and 13 of the 18 first-time honorees. Continued challenges in the real estate and insurance industries caused those categories to have much smaller representation, with two and four companies winning, respectively. Blockchain and crypto had three winners, though President Trump’s endorsement of crypto and a Republican-controlled Congress will likely help bolster the industry this year.
