Hartford Business Journal

18 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JUNE 16, 2025 Kjeld Olson, CEO of fintech company Banking Circle US, cuts the ribbon on his company's new Stamford office, alongside Gov. Ned Lamont. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Growth Sector Stamford aims to become a hotbed for the fintech industry all, of Stamford's more established financial services companies are significantly leveraging and embracing technology, or even buying up fintechs. That includes consumer financial services provider Synchrony Financial, which is headquartered at 777 Long Ridge Road and employs about 20,000 workers worldwide. Regional lender Webster Bank, which relocated its headquarters to Stamford in 2022 following its merger with New York-based Sterling Bancorp, has been actively acquiring fintech companies, including its January 2023 purchase of interLINK, a technology-enabled deposit management platform. Leah Kagan, Stamford's director of economic development, said the city has been proactive in trying to build up its fintech industry. "We do have a presence of fintech companies large and small, large meaning Synchrony and small meaning some startups or companies that are still developing," Kagan said. Also helping the city's efforts is UConn's recent launch of a financial technology master's degree program at its Stamford campus, which aims to not only boost the school's enrollment but develop a new pipeline of workers. Of course, there have been growing pains along the way. Gov. Ned Lamont and other state economic development officials in June 2021 cheered fintech startup Tomo's decision to establish its corporate head - quarters in Stamford, at 2200 Atlantic St. The company, which offers a digital mortgage and home-purchasing plat- form and was founded by former Zillow executives, was expected to employ up to 100 workers in the city, with the help of "earn-as-you-grow" incentives from the state. However, in March of this year, Tomo announced it would relocate its head- quarters from Stamford to New York City to "tap into a larger talent pool and better support our expanding team." "The proximity to New York City can sometimes work against us, as is the case with Tomo, but it often works to our advantage as well," Kagan said. Fintech hotbeds New York City is in fact a top hub globally for the fintech industry. Nearly half (or 45%) of U.S. headquartered fintech companies with more than 100 employees are located in New York City and the San Francisco Bay area, which is considered the top destination for fintechs, according to Area Develop- ment, an executive magazine covering corporate site selection and relocation. Both regions' prevalence of tech and financial services companies and talent make them supportive ecosys- tems for fintech businesses. Other top cities for fintechs include Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia, according to Area Development, which didn't identify Stamford as a core, secondary or emerging growth market for the industry. Scott Mills, executive board member of the National Fintech Organization, a nonprofit support group for the industry, said Stamford has yet to be recognized nationwide as a "hotbed" for the fintech sector, but it could By Michael Juliano mjuliano@hartfordbusiness.com T he city of Stamford has long been known to have a strong financial services sector — helped by its proximity to Manhattan — but its focus lately has been on growing its stable of financial technology companies. In recent years, a number of fintechs have either started in the city or arrived there as part of an expansion. In March 2024, Banking Circle, a Luxembourg-based fintech payments company, opened a U.S. headquarters at 1 Station Place, in Stamford. Fintech wealth management company Mirador in 2022 announced plans to move its headquarters from Darien to Stamford and add more than 200 jobs in the city as part of a multiyear, state-incentivized expansion. Mirador last year was acquired by New York-based fintech iCapital, which has an office in Greenwich and pledged to maintain all of Mirador's employees and Stamford location at 850 Canal St. London-based Moneycorp, which provides international money transfer and online foreign exchange services, last year announced plans to occupy office space at 400 Atlantic St., in Stamford. Other Stamford-based fintech companies include digital consumer financial services provider Rellevate, founded in 2019 at 700 Canal St., and Digital Currency Group, which was founded in New York City in 2015 and moved its headquarters to 290 Harbor Drive, in 2021. A key driver of some of Stamford's recent additions is the state's embrace of revised banking regulations that aim to attract fintech companies to Connecticut. The state Department of Banking has been promoting what is now known as its innovation bank charter, which provides a regulatory framework for financial institutions that provide banking services but don't accept retail deposits. Connecticut is one of only a handful of states to offer the charter, and four firms — including Moneycorp and Banking Circle — have applied and been granted it, or received a temporary certificate of authority. In addition to startups, most, if not Leah Kagan Source: Pulse of Fintech H2'24, Global Analysis of funding in Fintech, KPMG International While the city of Stamford is aiming to grow its share of fintech companies, the industry itself is coming off several challenging years as macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty slowed investment and deal flow activity. Globally, total investment ($95.6 billion) and the volume of deals involving fintechs (4,639) fell to seven-year lows in 2024, according to KPMG's biannual "Pulse of Fintech" report on global fintech funding. SEARCHING FOR A REBOUND 2021 2022 2023 2024 DEAL COUNT 8,392 8,025 5,382 4,639 TOTAL FUNDING $239.7B $202.9B $119.8B $95.6B

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