Utah’s newest fintech startup launchpad – @theU
Entrepreneurs passionate about changing financial services, now have a new way to supercharge a business or idea: the Stena fintechXstudio. The studio is an early stage fintech incubator and accelerator for students and recent alumni from all colleges and universities within the state of Utah.
The first of its kind in Utah, the studio provides entrepreneurs access to advisors, office space in the historic hardware building in downtown Salt Lake City, startup funding, business services and a broad network of fintech experts to help grow their businesses. The program lasts a year, providing cohort companies the runway to iterate and grow their fintech solution.
The studio is part of a broader effort to make Utah a hub for fintech excellence. The studio has partnered with the University of Utah’s Stena Center for Financial Technology, that was launched in January 2023 with the support of the Stena Foundation a total funding commitment of up to $65 million over the next 10 years.
“This incubator and accelerator will build on the success of the fintech community in Utah and will become a major hub for ongoing financial technology innovation and real economic impact,” said Steve Smith, chairman of the Stena Foundation and a seasoned fintech entrepreneur.
“The fintechXstudio combines young entrepreneurs’ energy and creativity with deep fintech industry expertise to generate high performing fintech companies,” said Ryan Christiansen, executive director of the Stena Center for Financial Technology. “The studio is a great opportunity to accelerate innovation and place Utah at the forefront of global fintech excellence.”
Over 160,000 people are employed by the finance and technology industries in Utah. The state has a history of successful fintech innovation with companies like Galileo, Divvy, and Finicity all calling Salt Lake City home and employing a significant number of people.
Utah’s government, university and fintech industry leaders have come together accelerate fintech growth through initiatives like the Stena Center for Financial Technology and the fintechXstudio. The hope is the number of fintech companies created in Utah will substantially increase in the coming months and years.
The studio’s physical office space is an important aspect of the broader mission to build fintech in Utah and Salt Lake City. Over 40% of fintech companies in Utah are in Salt Lake County. The goal of housing the studio downtown is to give a place where founders can scale businesses and participate in the city’s business ecosystem, thereby continuing the growth of fintech in Salt Lake City. The location also provides easy access to the freeway, public transportation, restaurants and other businesses.
The 2024 inaugural studio cohort is comprised of four companies across the fintech ecosystem. From sending healthcare payments across the globe to financial tools for non-profits, the founders are committed to building innovative and inclusive financial services products. Meet the 2024 fintechXstudio cohort companies:
Benji Card
Benji Card streamlines healthcare payments by facilitating direct transactions between health plans, members, and providers. With a focus on price transparency, it enables health plans and members to negotiate discounted rates through upfront cash payments. Using its platform, health plans can issue pre-funded virtual credit cards to members for approved medical expenses, ensuring immediate payment for providers. This alignment of incentives results in savings for health plans, reduced out-of-pocket costs for members, and prompt payment for providers.
Founder and CEO Cory Morin is motivated by the opportunity to impact healthcare in a big way. “What drives me every day is sparking change in our complicated healthcare system,” he said. “We want everyone to be able to stress less about the money and focus more on giving and receiving great care. Through Benji Card, we’re doing that – we hope to make a lasting impact.”
Devote is an all-in-one financial platform tailored to nonprofits. They strive to empower nonprofits by streamlining their expense management processes. The devote card and software facilitates expense tracking, allows for transaction-level spend control, automates sales tax refunds, streamlines receipt collection and storage, and more.
CEO and Co-founder Bryce Hansen is motivated to provide nonprofits access to a complete suite of financial products, so they can focus on what they do best. “We want to provide a toolkit to nonprofits that simplifies financial services so they can focus on making a meaningful impact,” said Hansen. “Every day I am motivated by the potential of our product to empower and accelerate a nonprofit’s growth.”
A digital health pass that allows individuals to prepay for healthcare in different countries, One Health + was created to make basic healthcare services more accessible. Powered by blockchain technology, the platform is designed to provide transparency, security, and efficiency in healthcare payments.
CEO and founder Osei Boateng started the company inspired by his experiences in rural Ghana, where he witnessed health disparities firsthand. “My goal with OneHealth+ is to eliminate financial barriers to timely healthcare access, ensuring that everyone can receive the care they need when they need it,” Boateng said. “The vision behind OneHealth+ is grounded in the belief that every life deserves equitable access to prompt, high-quality healthcare.”
A platform that powers fan engagement experiences for college sports in partnership with universities, Stenaverse is reimagining the college game day experience in more ways than one.
CEO and co-founder Kate Van Wagoner is driven by the fragmented experiences that exist in the market today around collegiate fan engagement. “When you look at the current technology, there’s nothing that provides the simple and seamless consumer experience we’re providing,” she said. “It’s exciting to be part of changing the user experience for such a large segment of the population.”
For more information about the fintechXstudio or to get involved with the program, visit stenafintechxstudio.com.
About the fintechXstudio
Stena fintechXstudio is a startup incubator and accelerator for students and recent alumni from all colleges and universities within the state of Utah. Founded by successful fintech entrepreneurs, the studio is helping the next generation of fintech founders scale faster and sharpen their product vision. The fintechXstudio is a separate and independent entity that is not associated with the University of Utah. The University of Utah does not assume liability for the content, practices or services provided by the fintechXstudio, including investment decisions
Learn more at https://stenafintechxstudio.com.
About the Stena Center for Financial Technology
The Stena Center for Financial Technology at the University of Utah unites education and industry to accelerate financial innovation and inclusion. It is a collaborative effort of the David Eccles School of Business, the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering and the S.J. Quinney School of Law. Organized as an interdisciplinary effort, the center provides workshops, labs, research, an annual conference and other projects and programs for students, faculty and industry partners. The center collaborates with university faculty to bring together fintech learning, scholarship, innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing. It fosters an intersection of education and industry to accelerate advances in fintech in the areas of research, commercialization, applied learning and incubation of new ideas and businesses. The center was launched with vision and support from the Stena Foundation, which was founded by University of Utah alumni Steve and Jana Smith to help people thrive by solving big problems. Learn more at stena.utah.edu.
