We Ask Several Notable State Names to Weigh In
(Note: This post first appeared in Next In The North.)
Minnesota has been a center for financial services for decades. You know the names – big banks, wealth management firms, capital markets players, giant insurance companies – most still with a significant presence here. But where are we today in our state now that new financial technologies are flooding into the daily lives of consumers and businesses everywhere?
We collectively call this new industry “fintech,” but it’s made up of many sectors – banking, payments, lending, wealth management, insurtech, and more. Minnesota has several growing fintech firms already making a big mark, and several more startups are breaking out.
“The growth of fintech is an interesting pattern of companies using financial technology to solve very practical problems for workers, families, small businesses, and industries that historically have not been well served by financial products or modern software,” said Ryan Weber, cofounder of Great North Ventures. He cited areas such as faster access to wages, better insurance access, financial tools embedded into workforce platforms, products for small-business money management, and other applications where better financial infrastructure creates both economic value and better customer outcomes.
A Minnesota venture capital firm that’s a well-known leader in fintech investing is Rally Ventures. “Fintech and, more broadly, regulated financial industries, form the basis of the Rally Ventures AI+ thesis — previously SaaS+,” said Justin Kaufenberg, managing director. “We’ve been focused on this theme since inception. When your core economic engine is the credit card payment, the insurance policy, the background screen, the loan product, the payroll product, or the funds distribution service, it means you can irrationally invest the underlying platform. The customer feels fortunate to receive such a robust platform, at such an affordable price. We disrupt the incumbent financial institutions, allowing us to delight the customer. Done correctly, it is nearly impossible for a traditional software/Ai company to compete.”
A Fertile Training Ground
John Stavig is Managing Director of the Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship at the U of MN Carlson School of Management. “I don’t believe we’ve realized our full potential, given the innovation capacity of the local banks and insurance companies. This is one of the reasons Plug and Play has brought their accelerator programming to the Twin Cities, through the support of Allianz, Bremer Bank, and others.”
I asked him what Minnesota fintech companies especially stand out for him. “Sezzle is a tremendous local success story with a market cap approaching $4 billion. What started out as an early BNPL company has continuously innovated to develop lasting relationships with younger consumers by helping them manage convenient digital credit services,” Stavig said. “Branch is another innovative fintech that started with workforce scheduling and evolved into a financial services provider for hourly employees.”
Stavig’s involvement with the MN Cup startup competition gives him a special perspective. “In addition to Sezzle’s past participation, we’ve had several payment processing companies, such as Mozrt, participate in in recent years.” Do startups have an edge in fintech specifically? “They seem to be able to more quickly pursue niche opportunities that can turn into attractive acquisition candidates for slower-moving corporations. Given their legacy platforms and customer base, the big financial corporations seem better positioned to acquire, rather than build, new technology platforms.”
Stavig sees Carlson School students’ fintech interest firsthand. “I just came from a class where students were discussing a number of challenges with financial literacy and personal credit management. It’s definitely an area where they see opportunities for improvement.”
He called out another MN Cup startup from this year’s Impact Division: Duome. “They’re very early, but ambitiously taking on the big issue of housing affordability.”
Our universities in Minnesota have produced several successful fintech founders, certainly including the two who launched the aforementioned Sezzle, Charlie Youakim and Paul Paradis, both U of MN Carlson School MBAs; another founder, Brandon Dols, a St. Cloud State grad, founded Figg, which was acquired by JPMorgan.
It’s also true that many Minnesota university grads, now employees at local fintech startups, cut their teeth in the financial services business here by having previously worked at our locally based big banks or insurance companies.
Fintech startups can pop up anywhere, including outside the Twin Cities metro area. Susan Sorensen Langer studied at the U of MN Carlson School and began her career at USBank. She went on to become founder and CEO of Spave, which is based in Red Wing, Minnesota. Spave is a social giving app that empowers individuals, employers, and nonprofit partners to automate saving and giving through everyday spending.
Myles Shaver is a Professor and Curtis L Carlson Chair in Corporate Strategy at the U of MN Carlson School. “Our region has the ingredients to be a player in fintech,” he said. “The banking systems that grew into Well Fargo, from Norwest Bank, and US Bank both originated here, as did other financial institutions such as IDS and St. Paul Companies. Because we’re a business center where finance is important, combined with our history in software and computing, that gives Minnesota the talent base to help found and grow fintech.”
He too noted that Carlson School students have clear interest in new financial technologies. “It does make its way into our classes. The success of fintech often comes from relaxing frictions or capitalizing on blind spots in the current banking system. So, understanding those fundamentals will always be key and a part of our curriculum.”
Shaver said he’s sure all major financial institutions are experimenting with fintech to some degree. “The outside view that startups bring is often key in something like this and can lead the banks to augment their internal development with acquisitions,” he added.
Fintech Founders Speak Out
I sought comment for this article from three Minnesota entrepreneurs who have achieved notable success:
• Brock Noland cofounded pH Data in 2014 to build intelligent systems for enterprises, to help form the foundations AI depends on. It has grown to roughly 930 employees worldwide after raising just $2.5 million in disclosed venture funding, prior to a 2024 investment/acquisition by private-equity firm Gryphon Investors. In 2022, Noland cofounded Vertical Insure to help industry-specific, vertical SaaS companies increase profits through embedded insurance. It was just named to FinTech Global’s 2026 InsurTech100.
What’s Noland’s take on the current state of fintech in Minnesota? “I think we’re seeing a real renaissance of fintech in Minnesota,” he said. “I use a pretty broad definition of fintech that includes vertical software companies that monetize through fintech, along with pure-play fintechs like Vertical Insure. I think we have some of the best investors in this space in the country, and there’s a growing group of founders building fintech businesses here.” Has Minnesota been a good place to be? “We’ve attracted great people and raised capital from great investors. Minnesota has been a very good place for us to build.”
Who are some people in fintech here in Minnesota that he admires? “I think what Justin Kaufenberg and Jeff Hinck are doing through ‘Rally Built’ is really interesting. They’re aggressively founding and supporting new fintech businesses here in Minnesota, which I think is great for the ecosystem.”
I also asked Noland what trends in fintech he’s finding most interesting right now. “In my broader definition of fintech, I include software companies that monetize through financial products. Traditionally, that has mostly meant payments, either taking cards or providing cards, and relatively few companies have succeeded outside of that,” he said. “But that’s changing. In our business, we’re seeing software companies generate substantial margin by embedding insurance, lending, and other financial products directly into their platforms. The key is doing it in a way that makes sense for the customer and the transaction. I think it took the market a while to figure out how to do that successfully, but it’s definitely real now.”
Noland also had thoughts about raising money in Minnesota. “I think it’s a great time to raise capital for fintech companies here, and it’s gotten easier as the ecosystem has matured. Local investors are very savvy about fintech and there are more people here who understand these business models and what it takes to build them.”
Noland noted that most of Vertical Insure’s early funding came from local investors, including Rally Ventures, Groove Capital, Dundee, and local angels. “Greenlight Re was our primary investor outside of Minnesota and is also a strategic investor,” he said. “More recently, we brought in Updata Partners as we entered our next stage of growth.”
• Cale Johnston founded ClickSWITCH in 2013 to help banks simplify the process of bringing new account holders onboard quickly and efficiently. It was acquired in 2021 by Q2 Holdings for $65 million. In mid 2025, Johnston founded Onsetto as a commercial banking operating platform, which offers several relationship-building benefits for banks with business customers. including an offering called “SwitchAssist.” In just a year, Onsetto has raised $11 million. “Last year at this time, we had zero customers,” Johnston said. ”We now have 50 under contract, and 30 of them are live.”
What does he like about being in Minnesota? “You can run a leaner, more efficient company here. You can retain more equity as a founder. Dilution on the coasts makes that harder, not to speak of the high cost of labor there.”
Johnston said Onsetto has been targeting smaller community banks, especially those focused on small business. His experience with large banks in the past is that it can take up to two years to do a deal. “Fostering relationships over time has to be the focus there.” (At his previous startup, ClickSWITCH, Citi Bank was a customer.) He said community banks move faster, and that “big banks tend to want to build versus buy.” Locally, he named Associated Banks, Tradition Capital, Bridgewater Bank, and Bell Bank as being approachable and open to new innovations. Associated has identified Minneapolis as a growth market, and is now the ninth largest bank by deposits in the Twin Cities.
What challenges does a new fintech company face? Johnston named two: “Can you sell? And can you get them live?” With Onsetto, he said, “We’re there.”
• Michael Noble cofounded Apruve in 2013 to develop a cloud-based platform to automate business-to-business (B2B) credit, invoicing, and accounts receivable management. Its technology enabled manufacturers, distributors, and other B2B suppliers to offer customers flexible payment terms without having to manage credit risk or collections themselves. Apruve raised approximately $8.25 million in VC funding and, in December 2022, announced it was being acquired by TreviPay for an undisclosed amount. TreviPay operates a global B2B payments and invoicing network and, at the time, was processing approximately $7 billion in annual transactions across 32 countries.
I asked Noble if there was any advantage in being based in MN when he was building Apruve. “We found talented people for less, and it was less competitive to keep them around,” he said. “We never did consider moving. Being in the middle of the country is convenient for getting to both coasts.”
What about raising money as a fintech startup? “It’s always hard,” Noble said. “I like the narrowness of fintech as there are only certain investors or funds that focus there. Minneapolis is a decent banking community, so I think there is always optimism for new innovations in and around moving money.”
Noble said 100% of the money Apruve raised came from out of state, except for “a few early angels.” What did Noble say about his successful exit of Apruve to TreviPay? “It was a good exit to a company that really treated our employees well and had a great culture, which is something you don’t often hear.”
No article on Minnesota fintech would be complete without also including Minneapolis-based Branch. Atif Siddiqi founded the company in 2015 in California, then moved it to Minnesota after participating in the inaugural Techstars + Target retail accelerator program in 2016. The company’s original product was a mobile B2B scheduling and messaging app to allow retail and hospitality workers to digitize their work calendars and coordinate shift swaps. But working with hourly and gig workers, Branch learned that scheduling was only part of the problem. Shift workers faced financial stress and irregular income due to traditional bi-weekly pay cycles. So, in 2018, it pivoted. Partnering with Mastercard and Evolve Bank & Trust, it added “earned wage access” by making a fee-free debit card part of the app. It has since partnered with major backend networks like Stripe. All told, Branch has raised $133 million to date, including from Minnesota-based funds. It’s grown to more than 290 employees and has seen more than $28 billion in instant payouts issued to workers via its Branch Cards.
Influence Well Beyond Our State Borders
The impact of Minnesotans in fintech includes much more than companies headquartered here. Technologists with Minnesota roots who went on to play major roles at significant new financial services companies nationally include Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of crypto stablecoin leader Circle; Alex Cram, Director of Software Engineering at Bill.com; and Dan Titcomb, founder of Provide. There are doubtless other Minnesota ex-pats that would illustrate the influence our local ecosystem has on the larger fintech industry, certainly more than what shows up on a list of Minnesota-headquartered startups. The reach of our state’s fintech network is deeper and wider than many might realize.
The Fintech Future Is Bright
“Past Minnesota startup successes are inspiring the next wave,” said Rob Weber, cofounder of Great North Ventures. “For example, Vertical Insure’s founding story had roots in youth sports because of Justin Kaufenberg’s experience in trying to find an insurance product for SportsEngine. Jeff Hinck of Rally Ventures has commented how Travelers Insurance provided a legacy example of a mega-success in embedded insurance. Another example is Andrew Johnson leaving as CRO at Branch to now lead Yardstik, a growing local firm in the workforce tech category.”
“It’s clear that fintech is entering the next major phase of innovation,” said Great North Ventures’ Ryan Weber, “with embedded finance, AI-enabled financial workflows, vertical fintech, modern credit infrastructure, insurance innovations, workforce financial services, and more. And there’s no question Minnesotans are well positioned to participate in all these sectors going forward.” Great North Ventures recently highlighted ten notable fund raises across the larger fintech industry in just the past month.
Yes, more people in our state are starting to recognize the depth of the fintech ecosystem that already exists here in our state. And Minnesota will no doubt continue to make its mark with startups, founders, and investors very much in the center of where fintech is headed next.
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Post Script: I saw a piece from PitchBook recently in which one VC labeled fintech as a “top-5 TAM worldwide.” Yes, that big.
He’s still very much active in running the Geek Squad. Robert opened his talk with a great intro on what his brand is all about: “Imagine a world without manuals. Now imagine a force that dedicates itself, monk like, to reading these manuals — even for stuff they don’t own!” The man knows how to market and have fun — and, hey, does it really get any better than that in the world of marketing? To read all about the brand lore of the Geek Squad, check out 
Stephens also told a cute story about how he wanted to marry his wife back in the mid-’90s, but probably wouldn’t have been able to build the business he did if he’d have done that. Instead, they held off and married a few years ago. (That’s her in the photo I took after the event. I was delighted to realize, during Robert’s talk, that she was right next to me at the table where I happened to sit down. She must be a remarkable person, too. As with all successful entrepreneurs, the significant other deserves a lot of the credit, and Robert was gracious in saying so.) By the way, in the photo, note Robert’s Blues Brothers-style clip on tie, and the Geek Squad tie pin. Always living the brand… 🙂 Maybe he and his wife even drove over in one of those cute black-and-white Beetles, too.
An experienced entrepreneur, he said the key turning point for him was in January of this year when he met with Dennis Anderson. [Dennis is the godfather of local executive recruiters, and has done more for emerging companies in this state than any other one person I know. So, I was delighted to hear him get this tribute.] “Our discussion changed my life,” said Montague. This company was about more passion and purpose than I’d ever imagined. Now I can’t sleep at night!” What I also thought was cool was the way Montague paid tribute to Robert Stephens, who has obviously made a big impression on him over the years. “He’s a marketing genius, and the way he brings passion and purpose to his job on a daily basis is an inspiration.”
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