WHO WILL BE THE NEXT FINTECH DARLING?
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Cait Burke (401) 292-7540 Cait.Burke@
WHO WILL BE THE NEXT FINTECH DARLING?
ScratchWorks announces the semi-finalists in its second annual FinTech accelerator competition
BOSTON, MA, March 6, 2019 -- ScratchWorks, the first FinTech accelerator of its kind in the wealth management industry, today announced the semi-finalists in its annual competition. ScratchWorks connects innovative tech startups with wealth management leaders to advance the digital transformation of the financial services industry. The finalists will pitch their companies to a panel of six industry luminaries whose firms represent over $60 billion in assets under management, with the goal of securing an investment. ScratchWorks "Season 2" received 50 percent more applications than last year, signifying an increase in emerging FinTech players.
"The convergence of 21st century financial advice and financial technology is upon us. Advisors who seek to optimize their service to clients must not only embrace financial technology but also be part of championing and supporting its development," said Michael Nathanson, Chairman and CEO of The Colony Group and one of the six judges on this year's panel. "ScratchWorks is leading the way in bringing financial advisors and entrepreneurs together in the ultimate collaboration for the future of the industry."
And the 2019 ScratchWorks Semi-Finalists Are:
? 280 CapMarkets' BondNav? delivers a cloud-based fixed-income marketplace for investment advisors with price clarity and context for each trade, supporting best execution.
? AdvicePay is an efficient, compliant, data secure billing and payment processing solution created by and for financial planners who are providing fee-for-service financial planning.
? REallocate is building a turnkey platform for advisors to access personalized, risk-based investment allocations to professionally managed direct real estate investments via its proprietary Allocation Intelligence (AI) engine.
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? SolidusLink is a multi-dealer precious metals trading platform capable of integrating with any bank or custodian, so that both institutional and individual investors, as well as their advisors, can access and hold real gold as easily as stocks.
? Winston Matthews LLC is a virtual reality development company providing financial institutions with a more efficient and immersive experience to interact, educate and attract more clients to their businesses.
The Investors Finalists will be judged by members of ScratchWorks, a study group that was founded by leaders from top wealth management and investment firms across the country. The group started meeting regularly more than 10 years ago to discuss and debate industry trends. As a result of their ongoing collaboration, they formed ScratchWorks to help discover and grow ideas in the fintech space.
ScratchWorks welcomes a new investor this year, Shannon Eusey, CEO of Beacon Pointe Advisors. Shannon joins Marty Bicknell, CEO and President of Mariner Wealth Advisors; Richard M. Burridge, Jr., Founding Partner, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of RMB Capital; John D. Eadie, Founder and Managing Director of Covenant; Jon Jones, CEO of Brighton Jones; and Michael J. Nathanson, Chairman and CEO of The Colony Group on the 2019 investor panel.
"FinTech is critical to the evolving financial services sector. Diversity of perspectives and ideas has historically led to the best and most creative outcomes. FinTech is no different," said Eusey. "The vast diversity of emerging FinTech solutions is bringing unimaginable solutions to bear for the great benefit of both advisors and investors."
ScratchWorks is sponsored by Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions and the University of Colorado (CU) Leeds School of Business.
"ScratchWorks is an example of our profession at its best, bringing together the experience and industry know-how of the investors and the disruptive, creative thinking of FinTech startups," said David Canter, head of the registered investment advisor segment for Fidelity Clearing &
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Custody Solutions. "This is a great opportunity for these FinTech firms to get broader recognition in the industry."
Last year's panel made investments in two of the finalists, InvestmentPOD and Snappy Kraken, a marketing platform that helps advisors automate and streamline their prospecting and client service activities. Less than one year later, Snappy Kraken has quadrupled its customer lifetime value, increased its user acquisition rate by over 600 percent, and is on pace to double yearover-year revenue.
"Participating in ScratchWorks is about much more than securing an investment -- it's about getting access to industry visionaries and their depth of knowledge around what FinTech should accomplish," noted Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken. "ScratchWorks does a fantastic job of helping startups like ours get access to mentors who are both willing and able to help us reach higher levels of success."
Competition for this year's funding will take place at the Barron's Top Independent Advisor Summit in March. For more information about ScratchWorks, visit scratch.works.
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Beacon Pointe Advisors, Mariner Wealth Advisors, RMB Capital, Covenant, Brighton Jones, and The Colony Group are each an investment adviser registered with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Registration with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training. For additional information about any of these registered investment advisers, including fees and services, you can visit the websites linked above or refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (adviserinfo.). Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions? ("Fidelity") is an independent company, unaffiliated with ScratchWorks. The information and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and in no way represent the advice, opinions, or recommendations of Fidelity. There is no form of legal partnership, agency affiliation, or similar relationship between Fidelity and the above financial advisors referenced in this announcement, nor is such a relationship created or implied by the information found herein. Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions and Fidelity Investments are registered service marks of FMR LLC. Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions? provides clearing, custody, or other brokerage services through National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC. 837193.2.0
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