The financial industry is known for its boy’s club. In fact, the tech sector is too. And as New York City is emerging as the national hub for fintech, it’s hard to imagine a reinvented industry that’s equally inclusive to women. Fortunately, that’s what’s happening thanks to women launching fintech companies in New York.
Alexa Von Tobel, founder and CEO at Learnvest
Alexa Van Tobel launched LearnVest in 2009 with the mission of making financial planning affordable and accessible. LearnVest was an early entrant to the personal investment boom. Even after being acquired by Northwestern Mutual in 2015, it remains one of the highest-profile and most influential players on the NYC fintech scene. Since launching LearnVest, Van Tobel has been widely regarded as a personal finance expert and entrepreneur in top tier business and consumer outlets.
Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and co-founder at Ellevest
Sallie Krawcheck, a former titan of finance at companies like Citigroup and Bank of America, launched Ellevest in 2016 with the mission of closing the gender investment gap. The robo-advisor works to help women secure their financial futures by taking women's unique life attributes — such as longer lifespans, different salary curves and more frequent career breaks — into consideration. The startup has already scored $19 million in venture backing, hinting towards great things to come for the young startup.
Jennifer Fitzgerald, co-founder and CEO at PolicyGenius
A former McKinsey consultant, Jennifer Fitzgerald cofounded PolicyGenius to fill a gap in the insurance industry. PolicyGenius provides a modern form of consumer insurance, with instant, accurate online quoting and digital advice tools. The company originally launched out of a coworking space in Brooklyn back in 2014, but had to quickly move to larger accommodations in Manhattan to fit its growing team.
Vicki Zhou, co-founder and co-CEO at WiseBanyan
WiseBanyan is an online platform that makes investing personal and simple — for free. Vicki Zhou, who previously held roles at Citigroup, SFC Associates and Archipelago Capital Management, launched the company in 2013 with Herbert Moore. WiseBanyan’s platform provides users with tailor-made financial plans by recommending and managing an assortment of bonds and stocks, which users can then track, add to or withdraw from.
Angela Ceresnie, co-founder, CFO, and COO at Orchard Platform
Orchard Platform is a marketplace lending platform that helps institutional investors, investment managers and loan originators connect and transact. Angela Ceresnie co-founded the company in 2013 with Matt Burton, David Snitkof, Jonathan Kelfer and Phill Rosen. As part of the founding team, Ceresnie oversaw and scaled all corporate operations, established strategic planning functions, set up and managed all financial operations, and established and ran HR.
Images via Facebook and featured companies.
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