FinTech Innovation Lab Demo Day: ESG, Crypto, and Managing Risk

Last week, the FinTech Innovation Lab held a demo day in New York for its latest class of startups that were mentored to help them further their concepts and find potential backers.

Alice Neumann, head of corporate bank Americas and global head of strategic corporate lending for Deutsche Bank Americas, kicked off the demo day hosted at Deutsche Bank’s offices. The lab was co-founded by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City.

Neumann said this year’s cohort of 10 graduates was chosen from nearly 200 applicants from around the world. The startups, she said, focused on such areas as creating sustainable investments, meeting ESG (environmental, social, and governance) outcomes, improving transparency around cryptocurrencies, and managing security and compliance risks.

“Their solutions use technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud, blockchain, and advance data analytics,” Neumann said. In addition to mentoring and supporting the startups, Deutsche Bank also funds some of the graduates of the lab in their later stages, she said, via a corporate venture capital program. This includes SkyHive, a labor analytics platform, which received an equity investment of an undisclosed amount earlier this year from Deutsche Bank. “We continue to be on the lookout for further investments and further solutions so that we can reimagine banking,” Neumann said.

The work of the lab continued through the pandemic, said Maria Gotsch, president and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, with alumni startups actively raising funding. “Collectively they raised $1 billion since 2019,” Gotsch said. The total amount raised to date by all alumni of the lab is $2.2 billion, she said.

Participants in the lab were mentored and advised for three months, Gotsch said. Some members of the latest class have already raised series C funding, she said, and some are also remaining in the area after graduation. “A number of them are moving their headquarters to New York City or setting up an office,” Gotsch said.

The demoing companies:

CoverForce -- Works with national property and casualty carriers to standardize their APIs and build customized platforms for independent agency networks.

Draivn -- developed a platform that collects and analyzes any type of telematics data from fleets and converts that into solutions and tools for commercial auto insurers and brokers.

Evercity -- A blockchain-based sustainability measurement and investment platform that automates issuance, management, and monitoring of sustainable finance.

Ion Channel -- A software supply chain management platform that identifies and monitors third-party security risk from software suppliers that include vendors, outsourced app developers, contractors, and open source.

LeapXpert -- A platform that creates an accessible digital record of all business interactions carried out over mobile messaging applications to ensure that organizations’ data will meet compliance requirement.

Mark Labs -- An AI/ML stewardship platform asset managers can use to define impact metrics, engage with investors and portfolio companies, and link their capital allocations to the pursuit of ESG outcomes and targeted financial returns.

Messari -- A provider of market intelligence products that help professionals navigate crypto, used by individuals and institutions alike. Combines deep analysis, data, news, and tools to improve industry transparency and drive smarter participation in crypto.

Railz -- An API provides financial institutions and fintechs with instant, real-time access to their business customers’ financial data from different sources such as accounting, banking, tax, and e-commerce to make better data-driven decisions.

SoLo Funds -- An on-demand marketplace that lets members request and fund loans for emergency needs, providing an equitable, community-driven lending alternative.

Straylight Systems -- An AI solution that creates reliable, secure software code automatically.

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