Submissions for our annual list will be accepted through November 15.
FFor the past nine years, we’ve published our annual Fintech 50 list, covering the top private companies that are transforming finance through technology. (Here’s last year’s Fintech 50.) From digital banks and payments startups to fraud prevention firms and cryptocurrency businesses trying to build a new financial system, these companies are improving the cost, efficiency and access of financial services.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the list. Our Fintech 50 research is a months-long process that involves a team of 10 reporters and editors. We divide the work into fintech subcategories, speak with industry investors, analysts, entrepreneurs and executives, evaluate hundreds of businesses and ultimately choose 50. The list will likely be published in February 2025.
ILLUSTRATION BY JON HAN FOR FORBES
The Fintech 50 2024
VIEW LIST
Before applying, please read our methodology below. The more you can share about your company’s growth, including revenue over the past two years, the more likely you’ll stand out among your peers.
Fintech 50 Methodology
We look for companies making a deep impact on consumers and businesses through innovation. This typically means they’re growing faster than competitors, regularly releasing new products or making major strategic improvements—not simply providing services that have looked the same for years.
We don’t base the list solely on quantitative metrics or require a minimum amount of revenue or number of customers. We also don’t have a cap for business size. The companies we select tend to be venture-backed startups, since they’re often best equipped to drive industry change, but we’re happy to consider bootstrapped startups, too. Public companies or their subsidiaries are not eligible for the Fintech 50.
Other important criteria we consider for each candidate:
- How much it has grown in sales and/or customers over the past year and how that compares with competitors’ growth.
- Whether it has a live product available to the public, or one that will soon be available.
- Novelty of the product and business model.
- Whether it has significant operations or headquarters in the U.S.
- Diversity of the leadership team.
- We define fintech companies as those that apply technology to the categories of business-to-business banking (including banking-as-a-service and corporate cards), insurance, investing (both consumer-facing and business-to-business), payments, personal finance (consumer-facing businesses in areas such as digital banking, consumer lending, budgeting, etc.), real estate, and Wall Street and enterprise (also includes fraud prevention, financial accounting and tax services). We consider blockchain and cryptocurrency companies for this list.
Fintech 50 Application Form
To apply, please complete the Fintech 50 application form by EOD Friday, 11/15/24.