Lucite

As someone who has spent a decade in the banking industry, I can confidently say that these are particularly exciting times to be in financial services. With M&A activity on the rise and companies gearing up to go public later this year, the workload has intensified, but new technology has unlocked unprecedented opportunities to supercharge the finance workforce. At Stepmark Partners, we are not only an investment banking firm exclusively focused on the AI sector, but we also leverage AI to enhance our own operations. Recognizing the opportunity for efficiency gains, we've prioritized optimizing our M&A processes. One tool that has significantly improved our efficiency is Lucite, a standout 2024 YC-backed startup founded by an ex-JPM banker and an ex-Meta engineer. We're using Lucite to automate our weekly newsletter, but their platform can tackle all sorts of custom and complex PowerPoint slides with minimal input from bankers, freeing up valuable time for more strategic tasks. If you're looking to streamline your M&A processes, I highly recommend checking out Lucite! cc Jason Spector Richard Greenbaum Lucite (YC W24)

Top #Fintech Companies Founded in 2024 (so far) What are #FintechStartups up to in 2024? 👀 What types of initiatives are investors interested in funding? What specific features and functionalities are users looking for? 📱 We're sharing the top 10 operational fintech companies launched in 2024 with the highest Dealroom Signal score to give you an idea of what's trending in the industry and what ideas are gaining the most traction.   🤖 = AI-powered 🔗= crypto/blockchain 1️⃣ Stuut Inc by Miraj Mohsin Tarek A. “The accounts receivable platform that does the only thing that matters—getting paid on time. Backed by some of the best investors: Khosla, Activant, 1984, Carya and Page One.” 2️⃣ Worth AI by Suneera Madhani Sal Rehmetullah “Worth AI is a minority-founded SaaS platform powering inclusive financial underwriting through AI.” 3️⃣ Trident AI by David Mlčoch Zain Hussain “Helping banks protect customers from scams and fraud, through real-time fraud investigation.“ 4️⃣ Ping Up by Syed Affan Aslam Lauren Walker Wajahat Jafri “A financial services app that gives the underbanked a space to invest their hard-earned money safely and sustainably. With a mission centred around the everyman, Ping Up offers access to both financial products and financial literacy, building a path to a fairer future.” 5️⃣ TNP Global Trade by Joerg Hoerster “TNP Global Trade's mission is to offer a secure utility platform for international trade transactions, streamlining payments via tracking devices and escrow accounts.“ 6️⃣ Lucite (YC W24) by Richard Greenbaum Jason Spector “Lucite automates investment banking-style deliverables and research for high-performing investment bankers, investors, corporate finance teams, and consultants.” 7️⃣ Kaizen Equity Partners by Zach Haarer Shane Seelig “Kaizen Equity Partners is a sell-side only investment bank committed to delivering premium outcomes for software & internet businesses.” 8️⃣ ox.fun by Su Zhu Kyle Davies “Gamified crypto perps trading. Trading crypto derivatives just got OX.FUN.” 9️⃣ Stakit Jake Oblak “Stakit is a Blockchain service committed to providing excellent and simple solutions for projects and businesses to seamlessly reward their userbase for free.” 🔟 Ooga Booga by Kevin Liu Ooga Booga is creating the first liquidity aggregator on Berachain.