FinTech

The Opportunity

Global fintech revenue is projected to exceed $1.5 trillion by 2030. But the deeper story is structural: the financial system still excludes 1.4 billion adults worldwide from basic banking services, charges predatory fees to the people who can least afford them, and runs on infrastructure designed before the internet existed.

In the U.S. alone, Americans paid $15 billion in overdraft fees, $12 billion in check-cashing fees, and $8 billion in payday lending fees in a single year — a poverty tax that falls hardest on Black and Hispanic households.

The companies that replace extraction with access won't just build good businesses. They'll reshape who gets to participate in the financial system.

Our Thesis

The first wave of fintech moved money faster. The next wave will move it more fairly. Ivystone targets financial technology that expands access, reduces friction, and creates transparency in systems designed to be opaque.

We're drawn to founders who see financial inclusion not as a cause but as the largest untapped market in financial services. The 63 million underbanked Americans aren't underserved because they're unprofitable — they're underserved because legacy institutions built cost structures that can't serve them.

We focus on infrastructure-layer fintech — the plumbing that enables new financial products, not just new interfaces on old rails. Blockchain for verification, not speculation. AI for underwriting, not surveillance.

Sub-Sectors We're Watching

• Blockchain transparency and verification — Distributed ledger applications for supply chain finance, identity verification, and impact measurement — not cryptocurrency speculation
• Embedded finance — Banking, lending, and insurance capabilities embedded directly into non-financial platforms and workflows
• AI-powered underwriting and credit — Alternative data and machine learning models that extend credit to thin-file and no-file borrowers who are invisible to traditional scoring
• Wealth management democratization — Platforms that bring institutional-quality investment access to retail investors, with particular focus on impact-aligned portfolios
• Cross-border payments and remittances — Reducing the 6.2% average cost of international remittances — a tax that falls disproportionately on migrant workers sending money home

Requests for Startups

1. Impact verification on-chain — Build a blockchain-based system that tracks and verifies the real-world impact of impact investments — from capital deployment through measurable outcomes. Make impact claims auditable, not aspirational.

2. AI credit scoring for the underbanked — Develop alternative credit models using rent payments, utility bills, employment history, and cash flow patterns to score the 26 million Americans who are "credit invisible." Better predictions, broader access.

3. Embedded savings for gig workers — Automatic microsavings and tax withholding tools integrated directly into gig economy platforms (ride-share, delivery, freelance). 57 million Americans freelance — most have no retirement savings and no tax withholding.

4. Small business lending infrastructure — API-first platforms that enable community banks, CDFIs, and non-traditional lenders to underwrite and originate small business loans faster and cheaper than legacy systems allow.

5. DAF (Donor-Advised Fund) technology — Modern, mobile-first platforms that make donor-advised funds accessible to everyday donors, not just the ultra-wealthy. DAFs hold $230 billion — but the average DAF requires a $5,000+ minimum. Lower the floor.

6. Remittance cost reduction — Cut cross-border remittance costs below 3% (the UN's SDG target) using stablecoin rails, mobile money integration, and direct corridor partnerships. $656 billion flows through remittance corridors annually.

7. Financial data portability — Give consumers true ownership and portability of their financial data across institutions. Open banking standards exist in the EU and UK — build the infrastructure that makes it real in the U.S.