... [+]Reported by Jeff Kauflin, Michael del Castillo, Ashlea Ebeling, Antoine Gara, Sarah Hansen, Samantha Sharf, Kelly Anne Smith and Hank Tucker.a faster paceNineteen of the picks for our fifth annual Fintech 50 have never appeared on the list before. Many are digital-first banks, insurance startups and payments companies, which ate up a big chunk of fintech funding last year.
Funding: $107 million from GV, Accel, Sequoia Capital and others, including celebrity investors Jay-Z, Robert Downey Jr., Kevin Durant and Will Smith; latest valuation of $450 million* Cofounders: CEO Richie Serna, 32, a former Booz & Company consultant and Sean Donovan, 36, who previously spent 14 years at large payment processor Vantiv Using public data, satellite imagery, and smart home devices such as water-leak detectors, home insurance agent Hippo streamlines application process and minimizes claims. Just added twice yearly home maintenance check ups through platform Sheltr, acquired last November. Now licensed in 21 states, Hippo aims to sell nationwide by year-end.
Bona fides: More than 21,000 people with $14 billion in retirement savings have built free plans on Kindur since its launch last April Bonafides: Maker generated $10 million in interest last year; its platform has already attracted more than 400 outside developers Bona fides: Serves 79,000 small businesses; gross written premiums, as of August, running at a $77 million annual rateHeadquarters: New York City
For a 2.5% fee, lets small businesses use a credit card to pay for expenses, such as rent, inventory and contractors, for which cards usually aren’t accepted. Typical clients are restaurants, doctors offices and construction companies.