Kansas Banks Announce FinTech Competition Winners at Innovation Showcase
Photo from the 2024 Financial Technology Innovation Showcase. Photo courtesy of Fernando Salazar.
Wichita, Kan. – October 17, 2024 – The 2024 NXTSTAGE Financial Technology Pilot Competition, powered by premier sponsors Kansas Bankers Association (KBA), INTRUST Bank, and Emprise Bank, hosted the program’s finalists to showcase their innovative technology tools to Kansas community banks, with four startups emerging as winners.
Startups from seven U.S. states and the UK pitched their cutting-edge technologies at the Innovation Showcase during Wichita Startup Week. The event, which took place in person and via livestream, featured three-minute pitches from each finalist, followed by remarks from the competition's premier sponsors, highlighting their commitment to innovation and future collaborations.
This marks the fifth year of regional banks getting an early look at promising technology solutions through this program, which reaches global startups looking to gain market feedback and access to customer prospects in Kansas. The 2024 program attracted a diverse range of startups, with 75 percent of initial competitors having either ethnic minority or female founders, and 75 percent of the finalists being led by these traditionally underserved entrepreneurs.
Among the standout participants, Fivvy was selected by INTRUST Bank to continue discussions on potential projects to enhance financial services for their customers. Kansas Bankers Association awarded Eko Investments, Legal-Pythia, and V2verify one- year memberships and the opportunity to attend KBA’s annual Tech Conference, giving these startups further exposure to key industry leaders and decision-makers in Kansas banking.
“This competition provides a valuable opportunity for us to connect with talented entrepreneurs and explore new technologies that can help us better serve our community,” said Alfredo Ortiz-Aleman with INTRUST Bank. “It’s exciting to witness the innovative solutions these FinTech startups offer for our industry and other Kansas institutions. We are particularly impressed with Fivvy and look forward to continuing our discussions about potential collaborations.”
“The Kansas Bankers Association is pleased to partner with the NXTUS Financial Technology Pilot Competition. Our task force helped identify financial technology companies that can bring new products and services to Kansas community banks” said Doug Wareham, President and CEO of Kansas Bankers Association. “It is our hope that community banks reviewing the opportunities presented by Eko Investments, Legal- Pythia, and V2verify will find them to be on the leading edge of products and services needed by our members.”
“We’re proud to support the NXTSTAGE Financial Technology Pilot Competition and the innovative ideas it highlights," said Matt Michaelis, Chairman and CEO of Emprise Bank. "This program provides a valuable platform for exploring emerging technologies that could shape the future of financial services and help us empower people to thrive. We look forward to seeing the potential these innovations may bring to our industry and communities.”
These 2024 finalists, chosen from a pool of 131 competitors from 19 states and 16 countries pitched their solutions to the NXTSTAGE pilot partners and other Kansas financial services entities:
ASA Financial (Provo, UT); ASA Vault is an embedded app store allowing banks to offer a custom set of FinTechs inside of digital banking.
Eko Investments (New York City, New York): Eko (Investments as a Service) enables you to offer investments to all your clients, instead of only the top 1%.
Fivvy (Miami, FL): Fivvy empowers individuals to take control of their finances with intuitive tools that make managing money smarter and easier.
Legal-Pythia (Glasgow, UK): Legal-Pythia uses Explainable AI to help government and financial institutions detect fraud in financial and legal documents efficiently.
Posh.AI (Boston, MA): Posh AI democratizes access to banking and accelerates the responsible adoption of AI for FIs, transforming how they serve communities & employees.
Traice (Schaumburg, IL): TRaiCE transforms portfolio risk monitoring and TPRM by leveraging GenAI on unstructured (non-financial) data for increased operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.
upSWOT (Charlotte, NC): upSWOT is a "white label Credit Karma for businesses" embedded on digital banking and designed to attract more deposits and provide more loans.
V2verify (Omaha, NE): V2verify simplifies Life' by replacing MFA, Passwords, and PINs with a simple to use voice authentication solution.
In addition to the KBA, INTRUST Bank, and Emprise Bank, the competition’s third founding pilot partner, Fidelity Bank, remains a NXTUS funder. Thanks to their support, as well as grant funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and support from the Greater Wichita Partnership, Capacity, Forvis, DCI, and Syndeo, NXTUS is advancing its vision to help promising startups grow, enhance Kansas’ innovation culture and foster inclusive prosperity in the region.
For more information on this program, see the competition website; to learn more about NXTUS entrepreneur support programs or about investing in local startups, visit the organization’s website at nxtus.io or contact hello@nxtus.io.