The State of California officially opened back up yesterday — about 15 months after starting lockdown due to COVID-19. What does the financial services industry look like post-pandemic? The new set of Forbes FinTech 50 may shed light on what to expect from FinTech’s top startups across 7 verticals (such as payments, insurance, and personal finance)..

For FinTechtris, this is our 4th year covering the Bay Area fintechs that have made the list — many of which are repeats (such as Marqeta, Plaid, Brex). As the industry continues to mature and grow in volume and valuation, many of these early startups are poised to become acquired or publicly launch. Feel free to take a look back at the lists from 2018, 2019, and 2020.

How did the San Francisco Bay Area hub perform in 2021?

Only 20 of the fintechs making the list have their headquarters locally (down from 24 in 2020). 10 of the 20 were also featured on last year’s list. Affirm and Coinbase are considered graduates as both entered public markets in the four months. Here’s the breakdown across 7 key sectors in FinTech.

PAYMENTS (5):

BOLT: has an e-commerce checkout platform that reduces transaction times and includes built-in tools for fraud prevention, merchant loyalty programs, and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) installment payments. One-click purchasing is available for 5M+ users — the company passed $1B in transactions processed last year. Based in San Francisco, Bolt was started in 2014 by Ryan Breslow and Eric Feldman.

FINIX: is a payment infrastructure platform that to allows companies to own, manage, and monetize more of their payments experience through credit and debit card processing. There’s no increased overhead in building an in-house processing system from scratch and the revenue increase can be up to 0.4% per transaction (compared to traditional merchant providers). Last year, Finix acheived 3x growth in volume ($5B in processing). Based in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2016 by Richie Serna (CEO) and Sean Donovan, and is valued at $450M.

MARQETA: helps businesses monitor and control the usage of company cards upfront with its processor platform, minimizing unauthorized transactions and fraud. Companies issuing cards to workers/customers can limit the categories and amounts approved (e.g. Instacart employees making authorized purchases of food delivery). With the rise in eCommerce and on-demand delivery, Marqeta experienced a surge in transactions (300% year-over-year). Based in Oakland, the company had an IPO recently above $1.2B and was founded by CEO Jason Gardner.

PLAID: provides a crtical link in connecting payments and finance apps that rely on bank data (for user verification and transfers) to financial institutions (such as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase) using APIs. Very few FinTech companies have the high-level engagement as Plaid, who connects about 1 and 4 bank accounts to a fintech app. The industry veteran continues to add new products to verify non-deposit accounts (e.g. credit card, mortgages) and help users change direct deposit. The company is based in San Francisco, and was founded in 2012 by Zach Perret (CEO) and William Hockey (CTO), and is value above $13B.

STRIPE: initially focused on payment processing, this fintech giant has expanding to issuing credit cards, POS software, lending and even Banking-as-a-Service (aka Stripe Treasury). The company serves businesses of any sizes with digital payments across the globe. In 2020, revenue was estimated over $1B. Based in San Francisco, the company is valued over $95B and was started in 2010 by Irish brothers, Patrick and John Collison.

REAL ESTATE (3):

BLEND: helps reduce friction for customers and institutions through its cloud-based mortgage software. By speeding up the loan approval process, Blend delivers an efficient, integrated mortgage experience for bank partners (such as Wells Fargo) — over $1.4T in mortgage volume was processed through the startup in 2020. Based in San Francisco and valued over $3B, the company was started by Nima Ghamsari (CEO), Eugene Marinelli (CTO), Erin Collard (former CFO), and Rosco Hill.

DIVVY HOMES: digitized the rent-to-own model — the company buys homes for clients unable to get approved for a mortgage, and then becomes their landlord. From each monthly rent payment, a portion goes to a downpayment fund for the tenant to purchase their rental in the future. Most renters in this program qualify for a mortgage in less than 3 years and have gained about 10% in equity. Divvy doubled their market presence from 8 to 16 in 2020. Based in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2017 by Adena Hefets (CEO), Brian Ma (CPO), Nicholas Clark (CTO), and Alex Klarfeld (software engineer).

ROOFSTOCK: A digital marketplace for all investor types interested in the leased single-family rental market, the company provides resources for analysis, purchase, and selling. Active in over 25 states, the company works mostly in properties with tenants in place. Similar to managing a stock portfolio, investors focus only on asset allocation instead of purchasing, repairing, and then leasing homes. Partial stakes are also available for $5K per share (via Roofstock One). Based in Oakland, the company was launched in 2015 by Devin Wade, Gary Beasley (CEO), Gregor Watson, and Rich Ford (CDO), and is valued at $600M.

CRYPTO & BLOCKCHAIN (3):

KRAKEN: provides spot and futures trading between Bitcoin, Ethereum and 40+ other digital assets. As the first cryptocurrency firm to become licensed (by the state of Wyoming as a special purpose purpose depository institution), Kraken has processed more than $200B in volume and ranks as the 2nd largest US crypto exchange. With headquarters in San Francisco, Kraken was launched in 2011 by Jesse Powell (CEO).

ALCHEMY: An infrastructure provider for crypto with a user-friendly dashboard for viewing and transacting on blockchain. Alchemy runs top NFT platforms (such as OpenSea, NBA Top Shot) through the Ethereum network, and processed over $30B in transactions. There’s a free and monthly fee ($49) level. Valued at $500M, Alchemy was founded by Nikil Viswanathan (CEO) and Joseph Lau (CTO).

ANCHORAGE: A regulated digital asset platform offering custody, trading, financing services, as well as staking and governance. Anchorage became an early crypto firm with a conditional bank license from the Office of Comptroller Currency (OCC). Based in San Francisco, the company is valied at $520M and was founded in 2017 by Nathan McCauley (CEO) and Diogo Monica (President).

INVESTING (2):

GUIDELINE: Help small businesses establish 401(k) plans for their employees for a monthly and per employee fee. Employees can choose assets to invest in and how to allocate. Guideline serves top companies such as Intuit and Square, and grew to 20K plans and $4B in overall assets last year. Valued over $400M, the company was founded in 2015 by Kevin Busque (CEO), Mike Nelson (CTO), and Jeremy Caballero, and based out of San Mateo.

ROBINHOOD: The well-known commission-free platform for stocks, options, and crypto trading continues to grow rapidly. With over 13M customers, Robinhood added premium services (through Robinhood Gold) and an account with debit card. Valued over $11B, the company was founded in 2013 by Vladimir Tenev (CEO) and Baiju Bhatt and is based in Menlo Park.

PERSONAL FINANCE (2):

VARO: A growing digital bank that initially launched in 2015, Varo made headlines last year as it become the first fintech consumer bank to gain a national bank charter. In addition to standard checking, debit cards, and payments, the fintech bank also offers cash advances (up to $100) and savings accounts that earn up to 3% APY. A secured charge card is also coming out later this year (‘Varo Believe’). From 2020, Varo now has over 3M accounts. Based in San Francisco and valued at $1B, the company was founded by Colin Walsh (CEO).

CHIME: The top neobank in US gained over $600M in revenue from 2020. Chime was built to help customers avoid fees (through no-fee digital checking accounts) and overdraft protection (of up to $200). During COVID, Chime offered early access to stimulsu check funds for users and launched their credit builder card, which helps users build credit through everyday spending. Based in San Francisco, Chime is valued over $14.5B (with $1.5B in funding)and was founded in 2013 by Chris Britt and Ryan King.

INSURANCE (4):

COALITION: Provides a platform that joins cybersecurity insurance with risk management tools to help businesses minimize digital risk. With more than coverage across the US, 40K clients, and $240M in annual revenue from premiums, Coalition is poised for further growth as an emerging InsurTech. Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, the copany was founded by Joshua Motta (CEO) and John Hering, and is valued at $1.75B.

HIPPO: Leveraging AI and multiple data sources, Hippo delivers a streamlined application and claims process with quotes in seconds and policies in minutes. There was 30% growth last year in premiums (to over $400M) and the company anticpates to go public via SPAC in the next months. Based in Palo Alto, the company is likely valued at $5B and was founded in 2015 by Assaf Wand (CEO) and Eyal Navon (CTO), both from Israel.

NEWFRONT: Combining staff agents and a proprietary platform, Newfront improves sales of insurance and benefit programs. Multiple carriers for a prospective employer can be funneled into a single application form. With over 5K clients, Newfront is currently valued at $500M. Based in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2017 by Spike Lipkin (CEO) and Gordon Wintrob (CTO).

NEXT INSURANCE: a mobile-first insurance carrier for small businesses that packages services (specifically general liability, professional liability, commercial auto, and worker’s compensation). Leveraging AI, applications are processed in minutes and customer support available at anytime. Packages can be tailored to specific trades (i.e. contractors, restaurants) and available in all states except New York. In 2020, Next Insurance sold more than $200M in premiums. Based in Palo Alto, the company is valued at $4B and was founded in 2016 by Guy Goldstein (CEO), Alon Huri (CTO), and Nissim Tapiro (VP of R&D).

SMALL BUSINESS LENDING (1):

BREX: initially offering only corporate cards for startups and entrepreneurs, the company expanded to offer a full suite of banking services including a cash management account (Brex Cash). The cards have specific rewards toward travel, subscription, or transportation expenses. Brex is also in the process of becoming a licensed entity with its application for an industrial bank in Utah. Based in San Francisco, the company was founded in 2017 by Brazilian entrepreneurs (Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi) after leaving Stanford to pursue Brex, which is valued over $7B..

Join our community @FinTechtris for more industry content & insight (includes deep dives & sector analysis).

As a bonus, access our eBook (“US BaaS Guide”) to help your team evaluate current vendor & bank partner models.

Signup for our weekly newsletter today —>