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The last few years have been a rollercoaster for fintech startups. The pandemic gave promise to these companies; venture capitalists poured in over $144 billion in investment in 2021, boosting valuations and helping first-time founders climb to the top. Then it all came crashing down.

Funding for fintech startups has fallen for the third consecutive year to $34 billion globally in 2024. That’s made the job of Forbes editors—who make the Fintech 50 list highlighting the top financial giants each year—even harder.

And yet, several Under 30 alumni have managed to grow amidst economic turmoil and secure their place on this list.

Take 2015 Under 30 alum Ankur Jain’s startup, Bilt Rewards. Appearing on the Fintech 50 for the first time, the personal finance company allows everyday consumers to use a credit card to pay their rent and, in return, earn points that can be used on things like airlines, hotels and restaurants. Investors including General Catalyst loved the idea enough to give Bilt $550 million in funding, raising its valuation to a staggering $3.2 billion. Jain himself is also a billionaire now, with a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes’ real time calculator.

“The best investors are the ones who are commercially aligned with you,” Jain advised the crowd at the annual Forbes Under 30 Summit last year.

Another newcomer to the list is Figure, led by CEO Michael Tannenbaum. He made the 2016 Under 30 list as vice president of SoFi, and is now running a tech platform that speeds up the process of getting a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Boasting revenues of $321 million in 2024, the startup Figure has secured over 150,000 clients and partnerships with the likes of Intuit’s Credit Karma. Tannenbaum became CEO of the startup (valued last at $3.2 billion) in April.

Then there’s Esusu Financial, founded by 2020 Under 30 alums Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel. With a valuation of $1 billion as of 2022, Esusu offers a different way of letting renters build their credit history: Instead of using a card for payments, they can simply use the platform to report their monthly payments directly to credit bureaus. Property owners pay a monthly fee per unit to Esusu, but in return, see better renter retention and more on-time payments. More than 20,000 properties are already on board.

Several other Under 30 alumni also appeared on the Fintech 50 this year. These include founders of Stripe, Column, Imprint, Persona, Plaid, SentiLink, Valon and Zip.

For those who one day hope to make either of these lists, take the advice Wemimo Abbey gave to founders at the 2023 Under 30 Summit: “You’re enough. Whatever you do, just know you’re the embodiment of infinite possibilities.”

More to come next week,

Alex and Zoya

Inside The Largest Black-Owned Bank In America

It took New Orleans-based Liberty Bank And Trust five decades to surpass $1 billion in assets. Now it’s on a mission to get to $10 billion. How is founder and CEO Alden McDonald, Jr. going to do it? Find out here.

Lister Lowdown

-Captain Experiences, founded by 2024 Under 30 Consumer Technology lister Jonathan Newar, made its national ad campaign debut this month. The campaign first aired across coverage of the Daytona 500, the Genesis Invitational and LIV Golf Adelaide, and will continue over multiple months during the PGA Tour, Men's College Basketball and more. It’s projected to generate over 100 million impressions for the startup.

-2019 Hollywood & Entertainment lister Timothée Chalamet won a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a male actor in a leading role for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. But it was his acceptance speech that really stole the show. “I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist,” he said, adding “I’m really in pursuit of greatness… I wanna be one of the greats.”

One Minute With Hannah Holland

We’re bringing you the scoop on a new Under 30 community member. Up this week: Hannah Holland, who is the founder and CEO of HLD Talent, a premier social media talent agency based in London. She works with some of Europe’s top social talent, like GK Barry, Ami Charlize and Charley Marlowe. Holland specialises in brand partnerships and personal branding, and has landed partnerships with global brands such as Spotify, Adobe, Netflix and Jimmy Choo, among others.

The following has been slightly edited for length and clarity.

What is the biggest change you’ve seen in social media since starting? The type of influencer who makes money. When I first started, you were making the most money if you have millions of followers, are very sexy, with image-based content. It was very unrealistic beauty standards. Now, the consumer and what the general public want is someone who is authentic to themselves. They go online with makeup, without makeup, when they’re hungover, when they’re sad, when they’re happy. Consumers feel part of a journey. And influencers now respect the trust of their audience. I wouldn’t have said that before.

Who is a creator that you look up to today? Amelia Dimoldenberg is absolutely killing it—in terms of going stateside, she’s very much stayed authentic to the character that she is, and she’s also building her production company. I think she’s very multifaceted and she has shown what can be achieved if you don’t box yourself into one category.

Is there a company or founder you look up to while building HLD? When I started, I always looked up to Andy Varley who started Insanity. He was always the person that I watched all his interviews. And when I got 30 Under 30, he actually messaged me saying congratulations, and I was so gassed.

What’s been the biggest challenge so far as you’ve built this company? I think the biggest challenge is always, for any service-based and talent company, is cash flow and making sure your invoices are paid on time. But on a bigger scale, it’s staying ahead of the curve. What’s the next app? When TikTok went down in the U.S. for a hot second, everyone was like, ‘What does that mean for all of our talent?’ Now I can’t ever take on talent with just one platform. They have to want to be multifaceted.

What’s your favorite hobby outside of work? I do muay thai and pilates is my thing. I do it at like 6 a.m. before everyone wakes up, so my phone’s not popping off. And I like to run now as well. I’ve become a fitness girl.

What does a typical day in your life look like? I wake up at 5:30 a.m., and I hate to be that person, but I do. I really enjoy being up before everyone else is. I like that it’s dark. So I wake up, feed my dogs, go to the gym. Then I’ll come home and do emails for a bit, then I make two boiled eggs, do my hair and makeup before I go to the office. I spend the day in the office and I couldn’t even tell you what that usually looks like. My diary is so back to back. Then I go home and make myself chicken and rice. How fun.

Anything you can’t live without? I don’t know if this is a terrible answer, but my teddy bear. I have carried it with me ever since I was a kid. He’s been everywhere with me—L.A., Australia, everywhere. He’s just my good luck charm.

Is there any one social media platform that you’re putting a lot of emphasis on right now? For us it’s always been between TikTok and YouTube. Instagram, I think is always just going to be a staple, so we don’t need to focus as heavily on it. I always say with each platform, you tell a different story: Your professional CV is your Instagram, your TikTok is your personality and your YouTube is your creativity. That’s how to divide the three.

Do you see youth as an advantage or a disadvantage in your career? Advantage. My ears are to the ground, I understand platforms well, I use them every day. My team is young, so they keep me informed. And I think a lot of people currently in this industry are about my age, so I have a great rapport with them and I understand what they’re looking for. I think it worries me to get older because I might lose that advantage that I have now.