Goodbye: Fintech Nexus is shutting down

When we started Fintech Nexus in 2013 (known then as LendIt) we didn’t have any big plans. The idea was simply to gather brain trust in the emerging online lending industry so we could learn from each other, network and do business. We thought we would work on a small event a few months out of the year and work on our other businesses the rest of the year.

It wasn’t long before the community began to rally behind us and our events were filled with thousands of people. We tackled the US, UK and Europe, then China and Latin America. This activity turned out to be an incredibly satisfying and engaging adventure. Between 2013 and 2023, we held 31 large-scale events around the world, bringing together tens of thousands of professionals to advance the fintech industry through high-value content and interactions.

Along the way, some external challenges, including the pandemic, forced us to take on additional financing – both debt and equity – and then in 2023 we suffered from the fintech crisis and had a very financially disappointing outcome for our big event in the States United. This led to the sale of our events activity last June.

Over the past year we have focused on our digital media business, which began in earnest during the pandemic. We wanted to see if we could make it a sustainable business without the events business to support it. Unfortunately, we have not been able to make this business profitable.

You may have seen the sale announcement we published in April. Even if we couldn’t create a sustainable digital media business, we figured someone else could take over. This also didn’t work, and so we made the difficult decision to close the business and file for bankruptcy.

While this is certainly not a happy outcome, we have had a fantastic journey and I know it has been by far the most challenging and enjoyable decade of my career.

So instead of dwelling on the loss, we want to share some of the highlights of our journey.

Here’s a farewell video that my partner and co-founder, Bo Brustkern, and I recently recorded.

The Fintech Nexus retrospective

2013: A new event called LendIt, focused on online lending, launched in New York City with 350 people.

2014: Moved the event to San Francisco where we hosted almost 1,000 people. First UK event launched with 500 people.

2015: Return to New York with Larry Summers as big name keynote: 2,500 people. Launched in China.

2016: The San Francisco event was attended by 3,600 people and was our last event in the United States at a hotel. Daily newsletter launched.

2017: Transferred to the Javits Center in New York City with 5,000 people. LendIt Industry Awards launched.

2018: San Francisco at the Moscone Center with Michael Lewis as keynote speaker. Moved beyond lending to other areas of fintech.

2019: Return to the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Event in China cancelled, LatAm event in Miami started.

2020: Pandemic. Cabbage! I had to cancel the Javits Center event. He has hosted events virtually across the US, UK and Latin America.

2021: Another year of virtual events, but in December we had a hybrid live/virtual event for LatAm in Miami.

2022: Back to live events! It’s so exciting to be back in New York, London and Miami. Renamed Fintech Nexus.

2023: The 11th annual Fintech Nexus USA event in New York City would be our last. We sold the events business to Fintech Meetup.

2024: Fintech Nexus closes after 11 years.

It has been a privilege to be at the helm of LendIt / Fintech Nexus. So many incredible moments as we look back. But what was always most rewarding was when I talked to people who said they first met at LendIt and had a thriving partnership. I’ve heard that story hundreds of times over the past decade.

We couldn’t have accomplished everything we’ve done without the support of the fintech community. We have taken this matter seriously from day one.

I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who have attended our events, both in-person and digital, over the years, including the thousands of speakers. Your knowledge and new business connections have helped push the industry forward.

I already miss the thrill of going on stage on the opening morning of an event, full of adrenaline.

The podcast will continue

My favorite part of what I do right now is producing my podcast, Fintech One-on-One. The podcast predates Fintech Nexus and will continue as normal, with a new episode released every Thursday afternoon. I’m about to pass episode 500 and intend to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. The podcast now has a new home own websiteand will continue to appear in your podcast feed as usual.

The Web site

The website will also remain online for at least the next few months, barring the judgment of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee. We know it is a great resource for tens of thousands of fintech enthusiasts. But the daily newsletter we have been producing since 2016 ends with today’s issue.

Webinars

There will be no more Fintech Nexus webinars, although our YouTube channel should live on for many years with thousands of hours of great content.

The next chapter

What happens now? Well, a bankruptcy trustee will take over and try to sell our assets.

Now the Fintech Nexus team is made up of free agents.

I’ve started taking on a couple of new fintech projects. You’ll see me at a handful of events over the next few months (I love a good fintech conference). After a couple of summer trips, I’ll have the bandwidth to take on more projects.

If you are interested in contacting me or other members of the Fintech Nexus team, you can contact us here:

The fintech sector will continue to thrive

We like to think we have played a significant role in creating a thriving fintech sector. For us this has always been a labor of love. The fintech space is doing some really interesting and important work, and it’s been the opportunity of a lifetime to be close to the center of it all.

We have matured as an industry and, collectively, we are now a leading force in financial services. Let’s all continue the good fight.

• Peter Renton is president and co-founder of Fintech Nexus, the world’s largest digital media company focused on fintech. Peter has been writing about fintech since 2010 and is the author and creator of the Individual fintech podcastthe first and longest running fintech interview series.

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