I Know First was recently chosen to be featured as one of the best fintech companies in Israel in Fintechnews Middle East’s article about how Israel is Quickly Becoming a Leading Fintech Hub. The article explains how the country’s people have entrepreneurial spirit, a tendency to think outside of the box, and motivation to build from failure which is leading to the inception of many startups. There is a burgeoning startup community of over 7,000 companies in the country. Additionally, a large portion of these startups are in the fintech space. Of the thousands of of startups, I Know First was chosen as one of the 12 to be directly mentioned and only one of three in the trading and investing subcategory. This is not the first time I Know First has been mentioned as one of the prominent companies in the Israeli startup landscape: we were recently mentioned in Israel 21c’s 18 Israeli Firms Rocking Financial Technology, TechBullion’s 10 Top FinTech Startups In Israel, and Bank Innovation’s 5 Israeli Startups You Should Be Watching.

There are a few different subcategories of fintech startups. The first is startups that focus on digital payments and easing the process of transferring money. This include companies that support lending, financing, and investing. The next subgroup is startups focused on trading and investing (not surprisingly, I Know First falls into this category). Another subsection focuses on blockchain and cryptocurrency. There are many more startups that don’t fall in these traditional lines because they are so unique.

Additionally, there is a culture of collaboration that is supported by coworking environments. Fintech hubs like The Floor and Barclay’s Rise community space provide opportunities to pitch and connect with others in the fintech field. Moreover, Israel is now one of the most densely packed countries in terms of venture capital. There is a mix of large VCs as well as many Israeli firms and angel investors providing support and funding to burgeoning startups. This only further enables new companies to get started and become successful. That being said, not all fintech companies rely on this sort of funding. I Know First started and became successful through bootstrapping and many other Israeli startups are similar too.

Israeli fintech companies, by Viola Ventures

Some of the other companies mentioned alongside I Know First in the article are Payoneer, Zooz, MyCheck, OurCrowd, CreditPlace, FundBox, BlueVine, eToro, Colu, Bancor, Lemonade, Scanovate, and more! We are honored to be alongside these other successful startups and can’t wait to see the Israeli startup environment continue to grow!