We are an industry obsessed with young companies, A-round capital raises and successful exits. While it’s absolutely true that much of the innovation we see is created by enterprising, young companies and entrepreneurs, innovation also occurs regularly within established companies and it’s critical for us to track and comprehend it.
Not always large by Wall Street standards, established companies- which I refer to as solution providers or financial technology companies (the term “fintech” is often reserved for start-ups and early stage players) provide mission critical technology to our financial system. Sometimes criticized as slow moving or only capable of buying innovation, many of these companies foster creativity, invest heavy in R&D and support connectivity to smaller fintechs.
Innovation Takes Many Forms
You don’t typically read about how these established companies invest hundreds or thousands of hours into upgrading solutions, nor are you likely to hear about the effort that goes into staying current on compliance for themselves and their clients.
Have you visited a fintech accelerator or incubator? It was likely made possible, in part, by a financial technology provider.
Does partnership lead to innovation? Not always, but under the proper conditions two companies- typically a large one and smaller one- create something together that enables a bank, credit union or lender to do something they could not achieve previously. In other words, it’s innovation through partnership.
TAG Fintech’s ADVANCE Awards Showcases Innovation (you likely won’t see elsewhere)
TAG’s ADVANCE Awards are designed to address this gap in recognition, focusing on growth-stage to larger fintech firms with ties to Georgia that continue to move the industry forward. At this year’s Fintech South, we’ll feature fireside chats with executives of the winning companies on Tuesday afternoon October 6th. Our six honorees were selected from dozens of candidates, each of which presented a referenceable customer and demonstrable impact of its innovation.
On behalf of my co-chair Chip Harden and our panel of judges, I’d like to invite you to learn about innovations emerging from these established companies, all of whom are seeking to make our industry better through new technology. This year’s recipients include:
- Autobooks
- CULedger
- DefenseStorm
- NCR Corporation
- Ondot Systems
- Payroc
To learn more about the ADVANCE awards and the winning companies, see https://www.tagonline.org/tag-fintech-advance-awards/. For information on Fintech South, being held virtually October 5-9, visit https://www.fintechsouth.com/register/
Scott Mills is president of William Mills Agency and active in a number of fintech organizations. https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmills1/