Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. already has its thing (its the U.S. Capital), but companies are starting to be drawn to this place for less traditional industries. More and more fintechs are starting to settle into D.C., many of them with a focus on lending, “social finance,” credit, and data analytics.
Some companies like Wealthminder are using digitized financial planning tools and investment recommendations fueled by data analytics to help its users to achieve longer term financial goals, such as funding college, buying a home, or retirement.
Startups like FS Card are busy re-designing credit, offering new options for small dollar loan customers to move towards more traditional (more affordable) credit products. Others, like StreetShares are enabling “social finance” for small businesses, allowing like-minded investors to fund small businesses through auctions (businesses pitch themselves through a simple mobile application, and investors compete to fund; the lowest bids are consolidated into one single loan with a low interest rate).