A Pittsburgh-based startup has been crowned the winner of FinTech Frontier’s inaugural pitch competition.
Honeycomb Credit, which facilitates crowdsourcing loans for small businesses, beat out eight other companies – including four from Cincinnati – to take the top prize in the contest, held during StartupCincy Week Oct. 29.
Honeycomb won a $25,000 share of the $60,000 prize pool – one of the nation’s largest prize pools this year. The contest was presented by Cintrifuse, Western & Southern Financial and Fifth Third Bank, with the goal of highlighting Cincinnati as a growing Midwest hub for financial technology.
George Cook, co-founder and CEO of Honeycomb Credit, called the pitch competition an “exciting experience” in a LinkedIn post written by Cintrifuse CEO Pete Blackshaw. While the company is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Cook also mentioned the possibility of establishing a presence in the Greater Cincinnati region – one of the principle ideas behind founding FinTech Frontier.
Honeycomb Credit recently launched its first loan crowdfunding campaign in Cincinnati for Oakley’s Red Feather Kitchen.
“We have long been interested in the Cincinnati market and the burgeoning small business communities across southwestern Ohio,” Cook said. “It’s [been] a real thrill to share the virtual stage with such a talented group of founders and see the powerful ways technology is being used to make the often intimidating world of financial services more affordable, accessible and fair.”
InsureLife, a Raleigh-based startup that provides an AI-powered platform for insurers to digitally connect with consumers and agents, took second prize ($20,000) in the competition, while WiProsper, based in Cincinnati, placed third ($15,000). WiProsper enables community members to participate in and benefit from venture ownership.
All finalists were also given a one-year free membership to Cintrifuse, as well as a free coworking pass for a year.
FinTech Frontier is a new initiative spearheaded by several local heavy hitters. It also included a series of virtual events in September and October, but Blackshaw already has his sights set on more.
Other FinTech Frontier pitch contest finalists included:
- Debtle, based in New Orleans. Debtle's cloud-based platform enables organizations and individuals to negotiate, settle and collect bad debt accounts.
- Earnestly, based in Cincinnati. The company automates the collection and reconciliation of earnest money payments, agent fees and commission disbursements.
- Fleri, based in Columbus. It founded a marketplace for immigrants to compare and purchase health insurance policies for loved ones back in their home country.
- Habit Insurance, based in New York City. Habit bridges (re)insurers with last mile distribution partners who have large pre-existing communities and the right context to show information and sell insurance products.
- MortgageBite, based in Cincinnati. MortgageBite allows consumers to shop anonymously for the best mortgage rates and fees in their area through an auction-style marketplace.
- Rente, based in Cincinnati. Rente is a digital platform for landlords to more efficiently manage their properties, while simultaneously improving the renter’s experience through credit reporting.
