Fintechs to Compete at SXSW Pitch

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We’re polishing our cowboy boots in anticipation of heading to Austin, Texas for SXSW 2020. The more-than-a-film-and-music-festival annually showcases the latest in tech innovation. 

A few fintechs will take center stage (literally) during the 12th annual SXSW Pitch Presented by Target Accelerator, a competition during which start-ups present their technology to a panel of judges in front of a live audience. Judges include industry experts, high-profile media professionals, and venture capital and angel investors.

Many fintechs apply for SXSW Pitch, but the number that participate ebbs and flows year to year due to fierce competition across a variety of sectors — the 10 categories include health, social/culture, smart cities, consumer tech, AI, and more.

Although SXSW Pitch doesn’t have a clear-cut category for fintech, we spotted a few start-ups focused on payments, blockchain, and proptech among the 50 finalists that will present March 14 to 15:

  • DrumG, New York, NY, Category: Blockchain — This start-up is creating an application development, operation, and support platform for financial services. It has developed a production-ready and financial-institutions-approved enterprise blockchain network designed to anonymously aggregate and provide analytics on institutional datasets while allowing users to maintain control and ownership of their data. The Titanium Network is currently used by several Tier 1 financial institutions.

  • Deepblocks, Miami, FL, Category: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics & Voice — Deepblocks is building a centralized global platform for analyzing real estate development. It integrates financial analysis, zoning limits, and market data into a single formula that enables instant modeling of development potential in any city around the world.

  • FilmChain, London, England, Category: Entertainment and Content — The start-up manages end-to-end financial transactions in media, powered by blockchain. The automated platform collects and allocates revenues in real time, from tickets sold to filmmakers' pockets. Enterprises, film funds, and Oscar-nominated producers are using the platform.

Being selected as a SXSW Pitch finalist can be a springboard for start-ups, even if they don’t win their category. From 2009 to 2019, around 75% of finalists have received funding ($6.6 billion total), and about 16% have been acquired.