Overview

The Fintech 250 is CB Insights’ annual list showcasing the most promising private fintech companies worldwide. These companies are selected based on several criteria, including their products or services’ potential impact, market size and growth, team and leadership strength, and innovation. The list includes companies focused on payments, lending, wealth management, insurance, cryptocurrency, and other areas of financial technology.

This year’s Fintech 250 winners are shaping the future of financial services, from payments and banking to investing and insurance. Representing more than 30 countries, these companies are creating safer and more efficient payment methods, and transforming how traditional banking, insurance and investing products are delivered. Together, they not only make financial services more convenient for users, but also make them available to more people, especially traditionally underserved populations around the globe.

Brian Lee, SVP of CB Insights’ Intelligence Unit for Cision 

Being featured in CB Insights Fintech 250 list can be a significant achievement for a fintech company, as it can help build credibility and recognition in the industry. It can also be a helpful resource for investors and others looking to stay informed about the most promising companies in the fintech space.

Let’s look at the naming and domain choices the top Fintech brands made this year.

Namepicks

Acorns

Acorns is a fintech company that provides a range of investment and financial planning services through its mobile app. The company’s primary product allows users to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the spare change into a diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds.

The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. In March 2022, Acorns raised $300 million in a Series F funding round, which valued the company at almost $2 billion. This funding round was a significant milestone for Acorns, demonstrating the company’s continued growth and success in the fintech industry.

Acorns, a company that takes its name seriously, has planted over 723,000 oak trees to combat climate change.

Helping people invest in their future isn’t all we’re focused on. We’re planting oak trees across America to create jobs, stabilize the climate, and rebuild habitats for biodiversity.

Acorns’ team

You can find Acorns at their exact brand match domain name Acorns.com. Domains with dictionary words are easy to remember, as they are typically straightforward and descriptive. They can convey credibility and professionalism, as they are often perceived as clearer and more reliable names. This can be especially important for businesses that want to build customer trust and credibility. They also give a strong competitive edge by increasing organic traffic and overall marketing effectiveness.

Alan

Alan is a health insurance platform that aims to transform the industry by prioritizing customer experience and offering high-quality coverage at an affordable price. The company was founded in 2016 by Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve and Charles Gorintin and is based in Paris, France.

In May 2022, Alan received an investment of €183 million from a Series E funding round led by Teachers’ Venture Growth. This funding round valued the company at approximately €2.7 billion.

Alan has been included in our recent report on the use of personal names as brand names. The report highlights the benefits of using a personal name as a brand, such as building trust, creating a more personal connection with customers, and giving the brand a distinct character and authenticity.

Alan believes that the future of healthcare lies at the intersection between sciences and humanities. We have found our inspiration at the crossroads of these two worlds: Alan Turing, mathematician and father of modern computing, and Alan Watts, American philosopher and humanist. This is why we chose Alan.

Alan’s Team

Alan has leveraged the strength of its 4-letter domain name, Alan.com. These domain are highly coveted by brands because they are short, easy to remember, and flexible, making them valuable assets in a company’s digital presence.

Stripe

Stripe is a fintech company that provides payment processing and related services to businesses. It has headquarters in both the United States and Ireland and offers software and APIs for online and mobile transactions. In addition to payment processing, Stripe also provides tools to help businesses prevent fraud, manage invoices and billing, and more. The company works with various governments and helps small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs accept payments online.

Stripe raised $600 million in a Series H funding round in March 2021, which increased its valuation to $95 billion.

Stripe operates on an exact brand match domain name – Stripe.com. This not only helps to protect their brand online, but also makes it simple for customers, partners, and investors to locate and access their website. By investing in a .com domain that matches their brand name, Stripe is able to establish a strong and secure online presence. For more information about the origin of Stripe’s name, you can read a recent article on the topic.

Klarna

Klarna provides a variety of services to both consumers and retailers, such as payment processing, social shopping, and personal finance management. The company has built partnerships with over 450,000 retailers, including major brands like H&M, IKEA, Expedia, Samsung, ASOS, Peloton, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, and AliExpress. These partnerships allow Klarna to offer a unique and convenient shopping experience both online and in physical stores. The company was founded in Sweden in 2005 by Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Niklas Adalberth, and Victor Jacobsson, initially under the name Kreditor.

In 2009, Kreditor rebranded as Klarna, adopting a new name and visual identity. The rebranding was meant to reflect the company’s growing focus on innovation and customer experience, as well as its expanding range of services. The name “Klarna” means “clear” in Swedish.

Our first angel investor Jane Walerud came on board and at this time the company was called Kreditor Europe AB. We picked the name because it made us “sound serious, trustworthy and larger than we were”.

Klarna Team

Since the rebranding, Klarna has continued to grow and expand, establishing itself as one of the leading players in the e-commerce payment industry. Today, the company offers a range of services, and it operates in a number of countries around the world. In July 2022, Klarna announced an $800 million funding round, raising a total of $4.5 billion over 29 rounds.

We will continue to position ourselves as a strong consumer brand and offer solutions that support our mission to free humanity from all unnecessary time spent on managing their purchases and personal finance, so that they can do more of what they love.

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Co-Founder and CEO of Klarna for EU-Startups.com

The business operates on the exact brand match domain name Klarna.com signaling authority and trust – fully aligned with their positioning.

Monzo

Monzo is a British digital bank that was founded in 2015 under the name Mondo. In June 2016, the company announced that it would be rebranding as Monzo due to legal challenges from an undisclosed company with a similar name. As part of the rebranding, the company also acquired the domain name Monzo.com in June 2019, upgrading from the previous domain GetMonzo.co.uk. Since the rebranding, Monzo has continued to grow and evolve, offering a range of financial services through its mobile app and becoming a popular choice among customers looking for a modern and convenient banking experience.

At Monzo, we’re building a new kind of bank. One that lives on your smartphone and built for the way you live today. By solving your problems, treating you fairly and being totally transparent, we believe we can make banking better.

Monzo’s team

In December 2021, Monzo raised $475 million in a Series H funding round, which boosted the company’s valuation to $4.5 billion.

The .com domain extension is generally recognized as the most credible and trustworthy, so owning one can help a company establish credibility and trust with potential clients. Additionally, upgrading to a .com domain can help a company protect its brand and prevent others from using a similar domain name, which is important for avoiding confusion and safeguarding its intellectual property.

Gemini

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian that enables customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets. The company was founded in 2014 by the Winklevoss twins.

Gemini is the Latin word for “twins” and as such, it inherently explores the concept of duality. We were drawn to this both because of the two worlds of money (old and new) that will intersect on the Gemini platform as well as the two-way nature of trade that it will facilitate. But that’s not all. Once we picked our name, a fun fact emerged. We realized that NASA’s Project Gemini was a spaceflight program focused on laying the groundwork for Apollo’s later mission to land man on the Moon. As such, it was coined (no pun intended) man’s “bridge to the moon”. In this spirit, we’ve built Gemini to be “your bridge to the future of money”. Oh, and Tyler and I just happen to be identical twin brothers.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Co-founders of Gemini

Gemini has invested in Gemini.com, creating an online presence, which has helped it to increase its visibility further and reach a larger audience. The company owns a portfolio of domain names and various extensions such as .net, .in, and .uk., which demonstrates the importance of having a comprehensive domain strategy for any business that wants to maintain a consistent and strong online presence.

Pilot

Pilot is a financial service provider that offers a range of services to startups and growing businesses. Pilot aims to help these businesses grow and operate more effectively by providing support in the areas of accounting, CFO services, and tax assistance. They work closely with their clients to understand their needs and provide tailored solutions to help them achieve their goals. The company was founded in 2016 by Waseem Daher, Jeff Arnold, and Jessica McKellar.

Pilot can be found on their premium domain name Pilot.com. Premium domain names are highly valuable because they can help a business establish credibility and professionalism, as well as improve their search engine ranking.

At that time, we were six people in an office above a fried chicken restaurant. $400K was a lot of cash. We only went for it because we had raised a $3M seed round, and I believed that the long-term branding benefit outweighed the short-term cost. I definitely don’t regret it.

Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot.com

In a recent post, entrepreneurs shared their experiences of investing in a premium domain name for their business and the benefits they have seen as a result. These benefits included increased brand recognition and trust among customers, as well as a more memorable and easy-to-remember web address. Investing in a premium domain name can be a smart strategic decision for any business, and Pilot.com is a prime example of the value that these names can bring.

Branch

Branch is a full-stack insurance company that uses data, technology, and automation to simplify and lower the cost of purchasing home and auto insurance. In June 2022, the company raised $147 million in Series C funding propelling the company into the unicorn club with a valuation of $1.05 billion. This is a significant milestone for the company and is a testament to their strong performance and potential for future success.

We believe that by reintroducing the power of community through data and technology, we can lower the cost of insurance while restoring it to its original intent: a force for communal good.

Steve Lekas, Branch

Branch initially operated under the domain OurBranch.com, but later acquired the exact brand match domain Branch.com. While it is common for startups to add words to a domain name when the exact match name is not available, this can sometimes lead to confusion among customers or leaks of traffic and emails. The benefits of moving to an exact brand-matching domain name can be significant and can help a business establish a stronger online presence and reputation.

Binance

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade a variety of cryptocurrencies. The company was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, and has since become one of the largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.

Changpeng Zhao is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry and is known for his innovative approach to building and growing Binance. In addition to his work at Binance, Zhao is also active in the cryptocurrency community, regularly speaking at conferences and events and sharing his thoughts on the industry on social media. He is known for his enthusiasm for blockchain technology and his belief in its potential to revolutionize the financial world.

If you want to help a person for a day, give them crypto. If you want to help a person for a life time, teach them crypto.

Changpeng Zhao

Binance can be found on their exact match domain name Binance.com. One-word .com domain names tend to be more effective at attracting attention and encouraging users to take action compared to domain names that are longer or more complex. These types of domain names are often easy to remember and can be quickly typed, which enhances the user experience and increases the chances that users will visit the website.

MX

MX is a fintech company that aims to improve financial experiences for people by making data accessible and actionable. The company is building a large open finance ecosystem that allows for secure and reliable access to financial data, enabling innovation across a range of use cases such as account opening, money movement, and underwriting. MX combines open finance APIs with enhanced financial data to provide fast, secure connections to data. The company was founded in 2010 by Brandon Dewitt and Ryan Caldwell.

In January 2021, MX raised $300 million in a Series C funding round, which boosted the company’s valuation to $1.9 billion.

The financial industry is at an inflection point as organizations look to become not only intermediaries, but true advocates for their customers by offering personalized insights and data-driven money experiences. Along with incredible partners, we are helping financial institutions and technology companies accelerate their digital roadmaps and launch next generation services and apps that will fundamentally transform how people interact with their money.

Ryan Caldwell, Founder and CEO at MX

The company owns the rare and valuable two-letter .com domain name, MX.com. These types of domain names are highly coveted in the market due to their uniqueness and rarity, as there are only a total of 676 two-letter .com domain names that exist. The ownership of MX.com demonstrates the company’s ability to secure valuable and distinctive online assets, and may potentially provide a competitive advantage in the digital space.

Highlights

The .com extension is used by 216 of the companies on the 2022 Fintech 250 CB Insights list. This extension is one of the most widely recognized and trusted domains, making it a popular choice for businesses looking to establish their online presence. Customers naturally tend to trust .com as it has dominated the internet for decades.

10 fintech companies on the list use the .co domain extension. This extension is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Colombia, but it is also commonly used by companies and individuals as an alternative to the more well-known .com extension.

5 companies have chosen the .io extension, followed closely by the .ai extension with 3 users. These extensions are often associated with technology and innovation, which can be beneficial for companies in the tech industry or those looking to position themselves as forward-thinking or cutting-edge. However, these extensions may not be as widely recognized as other domains such as .com, and may not convey the same level of credibility to potential customers. This can make it more difficult for people to find and remember the company’s website, potentially impacting traffic and revenue. Country domain codes offer more freedom of choice but come with certain risks for businesses.

178 companies secured exact brand match domain names for their brand presence online. Having an exact brand match domain name is a great approach to building trust and credibility online, which are essential for making lasting connections with customers and gaining an edge over the competition.

Dashes are used in 5 names on the list. Adding hyphens is not advised since it adds complexity for consumers who frequently overlook it while typing in a domain name.

FTX was removed from the list after declaring bankruptcy on 11/11/2022.

While we make every effort to ensure the data on our site is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, we cannot guarantee its reliability. Our data is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, or other advice. We strongly recommend that you independently verify any information before relying on it.

Other resources

• From Computer Science Graduate to Fintech Founder: Meet Nicolas Van Hoorde, founder of Delta
• Fintech Accelerator F10 has rebranded as Tenity In a Step Toward Global Expansion
• Fortune 500 List of Companies 2022 and Their Domain Name Choices
• Worlds Most Valuable Brands 2021 and the Domain Names They Choose for Their Brands

Premium domain names are an important investment for any brand. If you’re ready to take the plunge and secure a premium domain name for your business, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for assistance. We’re here to help you choose the perfect domain name and get it set up for your brand.

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