Matthew Goldman is a regular contributor to TWIF Signals, the Founder of Totavi, a boutique fintech product & marketing consulting firm, and the publisher of CardsFTW.

The story of fintech’s explosive growth is, at its core, a story of infrastructure. Early pioneers like Venmo were forced to build foundational elements from scratch. Venmo’s success is even more remarkable when you consider how many of these tools didn’t exist, from ACH authentication to ID verification to reconciliation. Today, thanks to companies like Plaid, Alloy, and Modern Treasury, launching a fintech startup is far more accessible. These infrastructure providers solved common pain points, reducing friction and empowering new entrants to scale faster. 

The earliest fintech companies created a fertile environment for a new wave of API-driven infrastructure companies. These infrastructure providers supported existing fintech companies' growth and inspired a continuous cycle of innovation. As new fintech startups emerged, they introduced new needs and challenges, fueling demand for even more specialized infrastructure solutions. This self-sustaining wheel of innovation has been key to the ongoing evolution and expansion of the fintech ecosystem. 

The wealthtech sector is now at a similar inflection point. As I mentioned in my last article, wealthtech companies seem poised to take center stage. As AI-powered robo-advisors become more ubiquitous, so too will opportunities to invest in alternative investments such as real estate, private equity, hedge funds, art, wine, etc. The wealthtech wave will bring with it ample opportunities for wealthtech-supporting startups to thrive, just as fintech startups like Venmo paved the way for companies such as Alloy, Plaid, Finicity, Cognito, Sardine, etc.

Here are a few areas within wealthtech that will thrive over the next decade.

Regulatory & Compliance