Four startups outside the Pacific Northwest won the fourth annual BECU Fintech Incubator Competition.
The incubator supports fintech startups and is a collaboration that combines the specialties of BECU, Washington’s largest not-for-profit credit union, and the University of Washington’s CoMotion Labs. Since launching in 2018, it has supported 11 startups with mentorship, incubation space, and training.
BECU expanded the competition to be nationwide during the pandemic, and this year’s winners are all based outside the Seattle area.
“We remain committed to growing the fintech community in our region and are continuing to look for ways to support local startups,” BECU said in a statement to GeekWire. “We also recognize that fintech startups from other parts of the country help foster innovation in the financial services industry and increase the financial well-being of our local communities.”
Here’s more info about the winning startups:
Based in Provo, Utah, Asa provides a technology platform and marketplace that enables partnership between fintech and traditional banking. Through this integration, fintechs can connect with the broader banking ecosystem to expand their customer base, and banks can use fintech resources to provide modern payment technologies and personalized experiences to their account holders.
Based in Pittsburgh, Honeycomb addresses the challenge small businesses face in obtaining traditional bank loans to grow. Honeycomb Credit enables these businesses to directly borrow capital from their own customer base and local community. The idea is to help both the business and customers — the business receives the capital it needs, and customers are offered competitive returns.
Based in Minneapolis, NetGiver is a charitable giving app for credit union members to enable donations to nonprofits with zero fees. NetGiver can be used by donors for any 501(c)(3) nationwide, directly from their credit union account at no cost to them.
Based in Michigan, Pocketnest is a platform targeted for and made by millennials and Gen-Xers to help them maintain financial wellness. It licenses its software to banks, credit unions, investment advisors, 401K plan sponsors, and employee wellness platforms. Pocketnest also delivers anonymous member insights to financial institutions so they can better understand the needs of younger audiences.
