AI, Data, and Crypto in Play at Fintech Innovation Lab Demo Day
AI and machine learning are familiar to startups that graduate from this program, but recent developments have cast such technologies in a new light.
![Alex Miles, CEO of Breathru, at the FinTech Innovation Lab Demo Day Alex Miles, CEO of Breathru, at the FinTech Innovation Lab Demo Day](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt69509c9116440be8/blt0c603aa57fbc96e4/64c024d925e7490ac19512d3/AlexMiles_Breathru-JPRUTH.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Alex Miles, CEO of Breathru, at the FinTech Innovation Lab Demo DayJoao-Pierre S. Ruth
The startups featured last week at FinTech Innovation Lab’s latest demo day in New York included ideas related to synthetic data, trade compliance for crypto, predictive cybersecurity, and financial health.
The lab got its start in 2010, co-founded by the Partnership Fund for New York City and professional service company Accenture. Startups in each cohort are selected with input from senior executives from financial institutions -- which include Bank of America, Mastercard, and Barclays -- partnered with the lab, then receive mentorship and guidance to accelerate their plans.
Before the pitches began, Maria Gotsch, CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, shared some insight with InformationWeek about the latest class. Though AI is a hot topic now in the private sector and among regulators, she said it was common to see some version of AI used by startups at the lab over the past five years.
There is a tendency among startups to explore spaces, such as AI and cryptocurrency, which are still being defined by industry and regulators. That can make a crypto trading compliance tool, for example, of interest to financial institutions, Gotsch said, as the space becomes more defined. “Once those parameters get set, they’re going to need a tool like that.”
The use of data has also been a priority most every cohort, she added. This year’s class includes Diveplane, which uses AI in conjunction with synthetic data at a time when the use of AI is under scrutiny and debate. “That’s a big hot button with regulators,” Gotsch said. “The parameters of the scope of AI are still to be worked out.”
Diveplane offers a way to create synthetic data, she said, to explain data that goes into AI models.
There were also startups in the latest cohort focused on inclusivity and ESG, Gotsch said, which are newer areas for the lab. “That speaks to a trend of that being an area of focus for large institutions,” she said.
Why Accenture Supports the Lab
The centrality of technology to financial institutions has accelerated over the years, including in crypto, AI, digital experience, and other areas, said David Parker, global financial services industry practice chair with Accenture. “We think these are enduring companies,” he said. “We firmly believe that every financial services institution is a technology company at its heart.”
Naturally it is not just altruism that drives Accenture or other enterprises to take an interest in what startups develop. Many financial institutions look to such innovation spaces to map out their next steps.
“There are things that are mission critical to these institutions that are part of this program,” Parker said. “If they don’t have handle on what’s happening, what’s next -- they’re going to miss the boat. In some cases, with some of these technologies, it could be existential for them.”
The 10 companies that graduated from this year’s cohort are featured in the slideshow that follows.
55/Redefined -- Aims to use platforms and solutions to help businesses attract and engage with the underserved populace of people above the age of 50.
“Eighty-three percent of the wealth in the USA is held by over 50s,” said Lyndsey Simpson, CEO. The buying power of this demographic is significant and has been for quite some time. “Yet they are consistently ignored, underserved, and disengaged.” Her company’s platforms -- Life/Redefined, Work/Redefined, Jobs/Redefined -- are meant to draw talent and consumers who are over the age of 50. As the populace increasingly lives longer and accumulates wealth, Simpson said focusing on this demographic is more than an initiative, it can deliver business outcomes.
Argus -- Developed employee trade compliance software for the cryptocurrency sector to prevent insider trading and other conflicts of interest.
“Things are exciting when it comes to crypto regulatory scrutiny, both on the criminal and civil sides,” said Owen Rapaport, CEO. Regulators are increasingly bringing cases focused on insider trading and conflicts of interest cases, he said. Meanwhile, more financial institutions are considering becoming active in the cryptocurrency space, Rappaport said. “As that happens, of course, they also face a risk.” That risk being their employees wanting to trade digital assets and cryptocurrency, which could lead to possible conflicts of interest.
Software from Argus is meant to ensure employees are not putting their companies at risk, he said. This includes preclearance to let employees know if they can engage in the trading activity, as well as finding undisclosed accounts and activities that should not be conducted.
Bfore.ai -- Offers a predictive cybersecurity solution meant to detect potential threats weeks in advance and block them.
“We predict every day 20,000 new phishing attacks that get into your mailboxes,” said Luigi Lenguito, CEO. He said cybersecurity has a problem. “We’re very, very reactive in this industry,” Lenguito said. “We wait for the criminal to attack to then try to identify them and block them.” He wanted to bring predictive capabilities to security comparable to weather forecasting. “We need to change the paradigm. We need a way to be one step ahead of the criminals,” he said. Bfore’s technology is called PreCrime, which Lenguito said lets users predict cyber threats. “We’re able to identify the source of the attack hours, weeks, months ahead.”
Billy -- Construction compliance, including automated collection and verification of certificates, licenses, and w9s.
Nyasha Harmony Gusta, CEO, said that despite construction representing one of the largest industries in the world, it is also one of the least digitized. The idea behind Billy is to simplify the documentation gap between construction and insurance. The Billy platform integrates with common construction management solutions, Gusta said, though the product can stand alone as well. “Our platform has been used on America’s first high-speed rail,” he said. “Even the train had to prove that it’s compliant by using Billy.”
Breakthru -- Earning platform that connects companies and youths, to let students earn through active learning.
Alex Miles, CEO, said Breakthru is aimed at young people aged 15 to 24; the app is a way to learn about companies, skills, and financial literacy while getting monetary rewards along the way they can spend at partner brands. “Young people learn something from the content produced from brands and they’re rewarded.” Miles said some 85,000 students have downloaded the app and the startup has plans to reach 500,000 in the next 12 months.
Diveplane -- Generates synthetic data that enterprises can use to resolve their data availability issues.
Marina Carreker, president, said there is tension when it comes to generative AI. “You cannot afford to get left behind,” she said. “But you also can’t be reckless because you work in a regulated industry.” She said regulated enterprises need an AI toolbox they can trust, audit, and explain. “Synthetic data is going to be part of that toolbox.”
Many banks and insurers generate synthetic data manually in-house, Carreker said, which can be expensive and slow. There are third-party options for the automated creation of synthetic data at scale, but she said there is a problem. “Every one of the third-party solutions available was built using black box AI.” That may be fine in some use cases, she said, but if the data is used to train a model that determines who gets a loan or an insurance policy, black box AI may not be sufficient. Carreker touted Diveplane’s GeminAI as data that can fulfill this need at scale. “It is purpose-built for maximum trust and auditability.”
Jaid -- An AI-powered platform that interprets and manages human communications via automation of mundane tasks and query resolution.
“Humans will communicate however they want to communicate -- email, fax, chat, phone, smoke signals, carrier pigeons," said Dan Kramer, CEO. "It doesn’t matter, they’ll communicate how they want, and at any moment, they may communicate differently.” The trouble is on the receiving end are systems that require structured information to function. This includes workflow systems, CRMs, and ticketing systems. Kramer said Jaid’s AI reads the incoming communications and categorizes them so the systems on the other side can work with them. This is meant to give users better information about their clients, products, and in-house teams.
Lab 1 -- Data exposure intelligence platform with near-real-time data risk insights across the supply chain.
Robin Brattel, CEO, said getting corporate data exposure under control is a challenge because exposures can include all types of business data, such as credentials, financial data, secrets, personally identifiable information (PII), and customer data. “It’s not just hackers,” he said. “Staff and suppliers are very much to blame for the reason data is leaking.” Breaches can have significant weight on a host of areas, Brattel said, including reputation damage, cyber-attack risk, and non-compliance.
After working with a global bank for a trial, Lab 1 discovered staff-sensitive information in a fourth data leak the institution was not aware of. "They had told us they had 24-7 cybersecurity operation, yet that hadn't picked this up," he said. In this case, a third party shared information with a fourth party without consent, creating multiple risks. Lab 1 uses data science, AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to monitor data exposures through supply chains, which includes dealing with messy, unstructured data found across a vast multitude of locations tied to third and fourth parties.
Responsive -- Uses AI to prioritize client conversations, giving advisors ways to increase revenue and manage risk.
Day Wachell, CEO, said Responsive is meant to empower advisors in their interactions with clients, who are demanding more and more attention. Advisors have more data but also have greater compliance pressures. “Their attention is divided, so opportunities in the data are getting lost,” he said.
The Responsive AI dashboard is designed for idea generation, which Wachell said can reduce costs as well as promote meaningful cross-selling that can increase the lifetime value of the client. “We can analyze gaps in the CRM data, so we’re improving data quality continually with ongoing discovery,” he said. Altogether that is intended to free up advisors to focus on their clients.
Spiral -- Helps financial institutions engage with community and environmental matters for their own growth.
Shawn Melamed, CEO, said Spiral embeds sustainability and other community engagement efforts into financial products. “We can transform a debit card, a credit card, a checking account into an impact-forward or ESG forward product,” he said.
For example, using a debit card to buy groceries could also send a donation to buy meals for children in need. Purchasing gas for an automobile might be tied to a donation to plant and save trees to offset carbon emissions. “It’s an easy, frictionless, and associative way to do good.” This could also serve to increase engagement with financial products for consumers who want to support such causes. Spiral has relationships with nonprofits across country, he said, so banks can tailor where and how the products serve communities.
Spiral -- Helps financial institutions engage with community and environmental matters for their own growth.
Shawn Melamed, CEO, said Spiral embeds sustainability and other community engagement efforts into financial products. “We can transform a debit card, a credit card, a checking account into an impact-forward or ESG forward product,” he said.
For example, using a debit card to buy groceries could also send a donation to buy meals for children in need. Purchasing gas for an automobile might be tied to a donation to plant and save trees to offset carbon emissions. “It’s an easy, frictionless, and associative way to do good.” This could also serve to increase engagement with financial products for consumers who want to support such causes. Spiral has relationships with nonprofits across country, he said, so banks can tailor where and how the products serve communities.
The startups featured last week at FinTech Innovation Lab’s latest demo day in New York included ideas related to synthetic data, trade compliance for crypto, predictive cybersecurity, and financial health.
The lab got its start in 2010, co-founded by the Partnership Fund for New York City and professional service company Accenture. Startups in each cohort are selected with input from senior executives from financial institutions -- which include Bank of America, Mastercard, and Barclays -- partnered with the lab, then receive mentorship and guidance to accelerate their plans.
Before the pitches began, Maria Gotsch, CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, shared some insight with InformationWeek about the latest class. Though AI is a hot topic now in the private sector and among regulators, she said it was common to see some version of AI used by startups at the lab over the past five years.
There is a tendency among startups to explore spaces, such as AI and cryptocurrency, which are still being defined by industry and regulators. That can make a crypto trading compliance tool, for example, of interest to financial institutions, Gotsch said, as the space becomes more defined. “Once those parameters get set, they’re going to need a tool like that.”
The use of data has also been a priority most every cohort, she added. This year’s class includes Diveplane, which uses AI in conjunction with synthetic data at a time when the use of AI is under scrutiny and debate. “That’s a big hot button with regulators,” Gotsch said. “The parameters of the scope of AI are still to be worked out.”
Diveplane offers a way to create synthetic data, she said, to explain data that goes into AI models.
There were also startups in the latest cohort focused on inclusivity and ESG, Gotsch said, which are newer areas for the lab. “That speaks to a trend of that being an area of focus for large institutions,” she said.
Why Accenture Supports the Lab
The centrality of technology to financial institutions has accelerated over the years, including in crypto, AI, digital experience, and other areas, said David Parker, global financial services industry practice chair with Accenture. “We think these are enduring companies,” he said. “We firmly believe that every financial services institution is a technology company at its heart.”
Naturally it is not just altruism that drives Accenture or other enterprises to take an interest in what startups develop. Many financial institutions look to such innovation spaces to map out their next steps.
“There are things that are mission critical to these institutions that are part of this program,” Parker said. “If they don’t have handle on what’s happening, what’s next -- they’re going to miss the boat. In some cases, with some of these technologies, it could be existential for them.”
The 10 companies that graduated from this year’s cohort are featured in the slideshow that follows.
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