First, we identified 800 financial services companies in our database hat have raised capital in the past few years, including all of the Finovate presenters. Then, we processed thousands of documents related o these companies (such as patents, job postings, filings, and press releases) to identify key terms and phrases used to describe them. We created the network map by connecting nodes (companies) by a line when here is an overlap in the key terms and phrases used to describe them. Next, we applied a clustering algorithm to detect emerging themes, revealed in the color key.
We then ranked the Finovate presenters by a network measure that filters for companies that are recombining existing technologies (a measure of innovation) and have raised high levels of capital (a measure of market worth). The top 7 companies are highlighted in the map, sized by innovation score.