1871 & BMO to Host WMNfintech Lounge at Fintech Meetup ’23

1871 and Long-Time Partner BMO to Host WMNfintech Lounge at Fintech Meetup 2023

CHICAGO (March 15, 2023) – 1871, a global non-profit innovation hub, and BMO are excited to host the WMNfintech Lounge at Fintech Meetup, the fintech industry’s largest meet-up in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 19th, 2023.

The WMNfintech Lounge is a pop-up space showcasing the success of the WMNfintech program, 1871 and BMO’s award-winning mentoring and accelerator experience. It’s also North America’s largest nonprofit fintech industry program for women-founded and women-led startups. 

Since launching, the women-led fintechs in the program have raised more than $29M in capital and created over 170 jobs. Additionally, over 15 percent of all women fintech founders in North America have come through BMO’s doors since 2018 and become a valuable part of its ecosystem. 

Additionally, on March 20th, 2023, applications to join Cohort 4 of WMNfintech open as the Fintech Meetup kicks off its second day. More details may be viewed here.

The WMNfintech Lounge will highlight 17 alumni of the program to share their experiences, allow attendees to learn more about the program and how to get involved, as well feature a panel focusing on gender diversity in fintech.

Attendees have the opportunity to walk through the lounge and connect with 1871, BMO, WMNfintech alumni, World Business Chicago as well as Jump Capital, which will be joining this lounge as its supporting venture capital (VC) and civic partners. Other agenda items include startup pitching and thought leadership panels. More details here. 

The WMNfintech program is part of 1871’s overall affinity offering “WMNtech,” a product line of women-centric experiences that focuses on exclusively supporting women in tech. Other programs include WMNtech Founders, WMNtech Pitch Competition, and WMNtech Leaders. 

“The fintech world is being positively changed by extraordinary female founders and we are proud to champion their early wins, and create opportunities for them to grow,” said 1871 CEO, Betsy Ziegler. “We’re excited for the WMNfintech Lounge to celebrate program alumni, women who are actively leading fintech companies, and the collective impact of 1871 & BMO’s innovation partnership within the industry.”

“BMO and 1871 have created the best ecosystem for women-founded fintechs across North America and we are thrilled to share the success of WMNfintech with the industry so we all can proactively address and close the gender gap,” said Andrew Harrison, Head of U.S. Digital Partnerships at BMO. “From partnering with our alumni and investing in their innovative companies to providing them with the right tools and resources for success, BMO is devoted to the progress of women-founded and women-led startups as we prepare to kick off the program’s fourth year.”

WMNfintech Lounge Agenda

3.20.23 

12:15 – 1:15 PM 

How to Show Up for Women in Fintech

Panel hosted by Nicole Casperson, Founder of Fintech is Femme, involving WMNfintech 2022 Cohort Founders

5:00 – 5:30 PM

Masterclass on Chicago Fintech 

Moderator

Alexandra Oleksiuk, World Business Chicago

Panelists

Investor perspective: 

Tarun Gupta, Jump Capital

Founder perspective: 

Rochelle Nawrocki-Gorey, SpringFour

Innovation hub perspective: 

Stephanie Miller, CXO, 1871

5:30 – 7:00 PM 

Startup Pitches

Spring Four
Plinqit
Arena Pay
Trustate
IndieTech
Expand HR
CreditRich
Homezada

3.21.23

12:15 – 1:00 PM

WMNfintech Program Q&A

A WMNfintech Program Q&A will be held for attendees to learn more about the program and how they can get involved.

Featuring

Andrew Harrison, Head US Digital Partnerships, BMO

Alycia-Aubrey, Sr. Director of Affinity Programs, 1871

4:30 – 6:00 PM

Startup Pitches

Xeni
Grounded
Caribou
Sign-Speak
Pocketnest
Second Keys
TruCrowd Illinois
Debtle

About BMO 

Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a highly diversified financial services provider – the 8th largest bank, by assets, in North America. With total assets of $1.15 trillion as of January 31, 2023, and a team of diverse and highly engaged employees, BMO provides a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services to 12 million customers and conducts business through three operating groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, BMO Wealth Management and BMO Capital Markets.

About 1871 

1871 is Chicago’s innovation hub and the #1 ranked private business incubator in the world. It exists to inspire, equip, and support early stage, growth stage and corporate innovators in building extraordinary businesses. 1871 is home to ~400 technology startups, ~200 growth stage companies, and ~1,500 members, and is supported by an entire ecosystem focused on accelerating their growth and creating jobs in the Chicagoland area. The member experience includes virtual and in person access to workshops, events, mentorship, and more. The nonprofit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, alongside access to more than 200 partner corporations, universities, education programs, accelerators, venture funds and others. Since its inception in 2012, more than 850 alumni companies are currently still active, have created over 14,500 jobs, and have raised more than $3.5 billion in follow-on capital.

Contact

1871: J Blaszczykiewicz, Sr. Director of Marketing. j@1871.com 

BMO: Lucas Seiler, Senior Manager, Media Relations. Lucas.Seiler@bmo.com