- Goldman Sachs, Citi, and JPMorgan have been the most active US banks in fintech investing since 2012, according to CB Insights data.
- The trio have invested in a total of 22 startups so far this year.
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It has been a busy year for fintech investing as money continues to pour into the space. But it's not just venture capital firms making big bets — three of Wall Street's largest members are also in on the action.
Since 2012, Goldman Sachs, Citi, and JPMorgan are the US banks that have made the most investments in fintechs, according to data from CB Insights. This year proved no different, with the trio investing in 22 fintechs so far.
The banks' interest should come as no surprise. Goldman and Citi both run separate investment arms for such deals — Goldman Sachs Strategic Investments and Citi Ventures. And JPMorgan has the largest reported tech budget of US banks at $11.4 billion in 2019.
And while all three aggressively pursue fintechs, their approaches vary.
In 2019, Goldman Sachs showed significant interest in real estate and wealth management, making three deals in each space. JPMorgan has leaned heavily into accounting and tax, funding three startups in that area. Meanwhile, Citi's investments are spread more evenly, touching everything from payments and financial charting to data aggregation.
Find the list below of the startups Wall Street's three biggest players have put money into this year.
HoneyBook
Bank: Citi
Investment: Led $28 million Series C in March
Area of focus: Project management and billing software geared towards entrepreneurs
Marqeta
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Participated in $260 million Series E in May
Area of focus: Payments for e-commerce and retail companies
Carta
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Participated in $300 million Series E in May
Area of focus: Software to help private companies manage their equity
Second Measure
Banks: Goldman Sachs, Citi
Investment: Goldman led and Citi participated in $20 million Series A in February
Area of focus: Alternative data analytics for debit and credit card transactions
ChartIQ
Bank: Citi
Investment: Led corporate round for undisclosed amount in May
Area of focus: Applications for financial charting and desktop interoperability
Trovata
Bank: JPMorgan
Investment: Led $5.5 million seed round in April
Area of focus: Cloud platform to help companies analyze the data and understand cash positions
OpenFin
Bank: JPMorgan
Investment: Participated in $17 million Series C in May
Area of focus: Desktop applications for financial firms
Global PayEx
Bank: JPMorgan
Investment: Undisclosed amount in May
Area of focus: Accounts receivable processing
FreshBooks
Bank: JPMorgan
Investment: Led corporate round for an undisclosed amount in August
Area of focus: Cloud-based accounting for small and medium businesses
Rabbet
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Participated in $8 million Series A in February
Area of focus: AI-powered construction finance software
Better.com
Banks: Goldman, Citi
Investment: Both participated in a $160 million Series C in August
Area of focus: Digital mortgage lending
Built Technologies
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $31 million Series B in April
Area of focus: Cloud-based construction lending software
Bud
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Participated in $20 million Series A in February
Area of focus: APIs to connect bank data to apps
Nutmeg
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $55 million Series E in January
Area of focus: Digital wealth manager with individual savings accounts and personal pensions
Raisin
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $28 million venture round in July
Area of focus: Deposits marketplace for customers and banks
Vestwell
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $30 million Series B in April
Area of focus: Automated retirement plan creation and administration
Flybits
Bank: Citi
Investment: Participated in $35 million Series C in July
Area of focus: AI-based aggregation to help customers pick financial products
Elinvar
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led venture round for an undisclosed amount in May
Area of focus: Digital asset and wealth management platforms
wefox Group
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Participated in $125 million Series B in March
Area of focus: Digital insurance marketplace
Symbiont
Bank: Citi
Investment: Participated in $20 million Series B in January
Area of focus: Blockchain platform to build smart contracts for finding financial products
Unqork
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $22 million Series A in April
Area of focus: Coding-free application development
H2O.ai
Bank: Goldman Sachs
Investment: Led $72.5 million Series D in August
Area of focus: Platform for creating AI tools
