FIA announced today the results of its annual pitch competition for fintech startups. Stable has been named the FIA Innovator of the Year, X-Margin was named the runner-up, and Databento won the People’s Choice Award.
These three companies were among the eight startups participating in the annual Innovators Pavilion at the FIA Expo, an award-winning showcase for fintech startups that is designed to support innovation in the derivatives industry. More than two dozen applications for places in the Pavilion were reviewed by a selection committee comprised of experts from banks, trading firms and venture capital firms.
Each one of the eight startups in the Innovators Pavilion delivered a short presentation to Expo attendees, followed by a Q&A session with judges drawn from leading firms in the industry.
The judges evaluated the eight startups based on 1) the degree of innovation, 2) the relevance to derivatives markets, and 3) the potential impact on the industry. They chose Stable based on its innovative approach to commodity hedging, and X-Margin based on its application of zero proof technology to credit relationships in digital asset markets.
The People's Choice award was determined by votes cast by participants in the FIA Expo. This year's winner, Databento, tackles the challenges of obtaining market data, a key pain point for many market participants.
This year's judges were: Toby Joy of Akuna Capital, Craig Robertson of Barclays, Esther Tian of Broadhaven Capital Partners, George Kalant of Chicago Trading Corporation, Jamil Nazarali of Citadel Securities, Sach Chitnis of Jump Capital, Tito Shirley of Goldman Sachs, Liam Smith of Optiver and Rahul Amin of UBS.
Each year FIA provides a unique opportunity for a select group of fintech startups to showcase their solutions for the derivatives industry. As the leading trade association for the listed and cleared derivatives markets, FIA has worked for decades to promote advances in the trading and clearing of derivatives, and the annual Innovators Pavilion has become a core element of FIA's commitment to accelerate the adoption of fintech solutions in these markets.
Since 2015, more than 100 startups have participated in FIA's Innovators Pavilion, demonstrating exciting new applications for emerging technologies and connecting with key players in the derivatives community. This annual showcase has become one of the most popular features of FIA's Futures and Options Expo, the industry's largest and most comprehensive conference and trade show.
