Washington, DC—FIA today announced the nine startups that have been chosen to exhibit in the 2021 Innovators Pavilion, FIA's annual showcase for fintech startups relevant to derivatives trading and clearing. The Pavilion takes place during FIA’s Futures and Options Expo which brings together traders, brokers and other market professionals from a wide range of firms in the derivatives industry. The conference will be held in-person in Chicago, Nov. 2-4, 2021
"We are excited to welcome these nine startups to FIA Expo and help them connect with potential partners and customers in our industry," said Walt Lukken, FIA president and chief executive officer. "We are strong supporters of innovation, and this program is a key part of our efforts to accelerate the adoption of new technologies in the derivatives industry."
The nine startups were selected by an independent committee of industry experts drawn from FIA member firms as well as venture capital firms focused on capital markets. The startups were chosen based on the innovations in their products and services and their relevance to the global futures, options and swaps markets.
The nine startups are:
- Arteria AI – Digital contracting for financial services companies, based in Toronto, Canada
- Databento – Pay-as-you-go for institutional market data, based in Boston, MA
- Farmers Risk – Risk management software for farmers, based in Ames, IA
- Paradigm – Trade negotiation platform for crypto derivatives, based in New York, NY
- STX - Binary options exchange for sports gambling, based in Chicago, IL
- Stable - Options-based solution for hedging commodity price risk, based in London, United Kingdom
- Talos - Institutional grade infrastructure for crypto trading, based in New York, NY
- X-Margin – Credit risk management for crypto markets, based in San Francisco, CA
- Zeta Markets – DeFi trading platform for cryptocurrency options, based in Singapore
"This year's group includes startups focused on many different segments of our industry, including cryptocurrency trading, commodity hedging, sports trading, market data and workflow automation," said Will Acworth, FIA’s senior vice president of data, publications and research. "I want to thank the members of the selection committee for their work in sifting through the applications and choosing such a diverse group of startups for our program."
As the leading trade association for the listed and cleared derivatives markets, FIA has worked for decades to promote advances in the trading and clearing of derivatives. The annual Innovators Pavilion has become a core element of FIA's commitment to accelerate the adoption of fintech solutions in these markets.
Each year FIA invites a select group of fintech startups to showcase their solutions for the derivatives industry at Expo, the industry's largest trade show. Since the first Innovators Pavilion in 2015, more than 100 startups from around the world have participated in the event.
Each company in this year's Innovators Pavilion will receive a free booth on the trade show floor and the opportunity to demonstrate their innovations to show attendees. Each company also will get a chance to pitch their solutions directly to Expo attendees, including senior executives from exchanges, clearinghouses, banks, brokers and trading firms.
At the conclusion of Expo, FIA will announce the winner of the "Innovator of the Year" award. The winner will be determined by a group of judges drawn from representative segments of the derivatives industry. FIA also will announce the winner of the "people's choice" award, which will be determined by votes cast by Expo attendees.
Note: this press release was updated on Oct. 8 to reflect the current composition of this year's cohort.
