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 graduates from all colleges and universities in the state of Utah.

First of its kind in Utah, the firm offers entrepreneurs access to advisors, office space in the historic Hardware Building in downtown Salt Lake City, startup funding, corporate services and an extensive network of fintech experts to help grow their activities. The program lasts one year and provides the group’s companies with the path to iterate and grow their fintech solution.

The study is part of a larger effort to make Utah a hub for fintech excellence. The study collaborated with the University of Utah Stena Center for Financial Technologylaunched in January 2023 with support from 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 become a major hub for continued financial technology innovation and real economic impact,” said Steve Smith, president of the Stena Foundation and an experienced fintech entrepreneur.

“The fintechXstudio combines the energy and creativity of young entrepreneurs with deep fintech expertise to generate high-performing fintech companies,” said Ryan Christiansen, executive director of the Stena Center for Financial Technology. “The study represents a great opportunity to accelerate innovation and place Utah at the forefront of global fintech excellence.”

Over 160,000 people are employed in the financial and technology sectors in Utah. The state has a history of successful fintech innovation with companies like Galileo, Divvy and Finicity all headquartered in Salt Lake City and employing significant numbers of people.

Utah’s government, universities and fintech industry leaders have come together to accelerate the growth of fintech through initiatives like the Stena Center for Financial Technology and fintechXstudio. The hope is that the number of fintech companies created in Utah will increase substantially in the coming months and years.

The firm’s physical office space is an important aspect of the larger mission to build fintech in Utah and Salt Lake City. Over 40% of fintech companies in Utah are located in Salt Lake County. The goal of hosting the studio downtown is to provide a place where founders can expand their businesses and participate in the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, thus continuing the growth of fintech in Salt Lake City. The location also offers easy access to the highway, public transportation, restaurants and other businesses.

The inaugural 2024 study group consists of four companies from the fintech ecosystem. From sending healthcare payments around the world to financial tools for nonprofits, the founders are committed to creating innovative and inclusive financial services products. Meet the fintechXstudio 2024 cohort companies:

Benji card
Benji Card simplifies healthcare payments by facilitating direct transactions between health plans, members and providers. With a focus on pricing transparency, it allows 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 to providers. This alignment of incentives results in health plan savings, reduced out-of-pocket costs for members, and timely payments for providers.

Founder and CEO Cory Morin is motivated by the opportunity to make a big impact on healthcare. “What drives me every day is to spark change in our complicated healthcare system,” he said. “We want everyone to be able to worry less about money and focus more on giving and receiving great care. Through Benji Card, we are doing this: we hope to have a lasting impact.”

Dedicate

Devote is an all-in-one financial platform tailored for nonprofits. They strive to empower nonprofits by streamlining expense management processes. The devotion card and software makes it easy to track expenses, enable transaction-level spending control, automate sales tax refunds, simplify receipt collection and storage, and more.

CEO and Co-founder Bryce Hansen is driven to provide nonprofits with access to a full suite of financial products, so they can focus on what they do best. “We want to provide nonprofits with a toolkit that simplifies financial services so they can focus on making a meaningful impact,” Hansen said. “Every day I am motivated by our product’s potential to empower and accelerate the growth of a nonprofit organization.”

A health +

A digital health pass that allows people to prepay for healthcare in multiple 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 he 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 access to healthcare, ensuring everyone can get the care they need when they need it,” Boateng said. “The vision behind OneHealth+ is founded on the belief that every life deserves equitable access to rapid, high-quality healthcare.”

Stenaverse

Stenaverse, a platform that powers fan engagement experiences for college sports in partnership with universities, is reinventing the college game day experience in more ways than one.

CEO and co-founder Kate Van Wagoner it is driven by the fragmented experiences that exist in the market today regarding collegiate fan engagement. “When you look at current technology, there is nothing that offers the simple and seamless consumer experience that we offer,” he said. “It’s exciting to be a part of changing the user experience for such a large segment of the population.”

To learn more about fintechXstudio or to join the program, visit stenafintechxstudio.com.

About fintechXstudio

Stena fintechXstudio is a startup incubator and accelerator for students and recent graduates from all colleges and universities in the state of Utah. Founded by successful fintech entrepreneurs, the studio is helping the next generation of fintech founders grow faster and sharpen their product vision. FintechXstudio is a separate and independent entity not associated with the University of Utah. The University of Utah assumes no responsibility for the content, practices, or services provided by fintechXstudio, including investment decisions

Find out more about https://stenafintechxstudio.com.

Information about the Stena Center for Financial Technology

The Stena Center for Financial Technology at the University of Utah unites education and industry to accelerate innovation and financial inclusion. It is a collaborative effort between the David Eccles School of Business, the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, and the SJ Quinney School of Law. Organized as an interdisciplinary effort, the center offers workshops, laboratories, research, an annual conference and other projects and programs for students, faculty and industry partners. The center partners with academics to bring together fintech learning, scholarship, innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing. Promotes the intersection of education and industry to accelerate fintech advances in research, commercialization, applied learning, and the incubation of new ideas and businesses. The center was launched with the vision and support of the Stena Foundation, founded by University of Utah alumni Steve and Jana Smith to help people thrive by solving big problems. Find out more about stena.utah.edu.

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