Finomial or How Hedge Funds Moved Into the 21st Century

Meredith Moss – Finomial’s Founder, CEO and chief salesperson

How often do you think about hedge funds?

If you’re as removed from the world of finance as I am, chances are the images these two words conjure in your mind have a lot to do with bespoke suits, incessant complexities and (of course) an unfathomable amount of money. However, if you’ve grown up in this industry, you probably can’t stop thinking of the nitty-gritty details behind it and spend every waking moment thinking how you can make it better.

Such is the case of Meredith Moss, the Founder and CEO of Finomial – a financial services startup that deals precisely with the un-sexy problems of hedge funds. Having spent her career managing software for financial services, Moss secretly dreamed of starting a company of her own, but it wasn’t until she switched to alternative investments (investments that don’t fit the three traditional  asset types, namely stocks, bonds and cash) that she got the idea of the exact problem she could fix. While serving as Vice President at Credit Suisse Alternative Investments, she was incredibly surprised that alternatives were still in “the dark ages” when it came to the way they process investments from institutional investors, as everything was still done in pen and paper. Needless to say, this generated a lot of mistakes which is not exactly what you want when dealing with large sums of money.

Tired of the incessant problems this caused, Moss decided to fix the problem herself, and in the spring of 2011 she founded Finomial – a financial services startup that aims to elevate alternatives to the 21st century. The company focuses on the subscription process, enabling investors to seamlessly put capital to work into hedge funds. It might sound complicated but they do it all by providing a platform for Fund Administrators, who provide back office services to hedge funds. Finomial helps mediate between the fund administrator, the investor and the hedge fund employees, handling subscription to the fund (investments), supporting the tax processes, allowing real-time communication with investors and providing them with essential information on their money based on performance reports. This way the company provides a necessary solution to a very un-sexy problem. As the sole entity that attempts to solve it – yes, that’s right, they have no competition at all – Finomial has managed to generate trust among the biggest banks and hedge funds in the world, and do so with minimal investment and a single salesperson – Moss herself! Impressive? Not compared to their long-term plans. The company currently has a team of 30 headquartered in the beautiful WeWork office near South Station, and is putting its efforts into rapid scaling. According to Moss, Finomial will start its expansion by building its engineering team and acquiring new clients, with a focus on foreign markets, such as Europe and Asia. All of this would be made possible with a new round of investment the company is planning to raise in the end of this year – something that probably won’t be that difficult considering their success so far.

SPOT or How Parking Turned from Pain to an Opportunity

Mark Abramowicz (left), Braden Golub (middle) and Mitchell Gaynor (right)

What’s the biggest complaint of Bostonians besides the fact that the city closes so early? If you ever had to drive in this city, chances are you’ll immediately scream “Parking!”. And you’re right. We have very little street space, while everyone seems to have a car, garages are far away and wicked expensive, and so parking is a pain in the ass. It gets even worse when you stop to think about how much money you paid for a parking spot next to that new apartment of yours, because if you discount the time you’re at work or away on vacation….it turns out you’re never quite using it. Bummer, right?

But what if you could turn that to your advantage and make money out of it? No, I’m not crazy. I just happened to come across a great new startup that allows you to do just that. Easily described as the Airbnb for parking, SPOT lets you rent out your parking space(s) when you’re not using it, allowing you to make the most out of it. The company has devised a rate of the parking spots around various Boston neighborhoods, allowing you to quickly determine what your spot’s worth. And it’s incredibly easy to use. All you need to do is download the app (available on iOS and Android), and a few clicks later you can start banking on your underused parking spot. Pretty cool, huh? Apparently, the startup press seems to agree with that, as this infant of a startup (they’re barely a year old) has managed to get covered by the likes of BetaBoston, BostInno, TIME and TechCrunch.

Now, how did they get here? SPOT is the brainchild of Braden Golub, an Ohio native that felt the pain of parking when he first moved to Boston nearly a decade ago. One day, as he was feeding the meter for his girlfriend’s car, Golub noticed all the empty parking spots behind his apartment building. And then it hit him: people weren’t using their parking spaces when at work, while others (like him) kept spending time and money on street parking. A couple of months later SPOT was born. A year later the company has already grown to 7 employees and managed to establish a cordial relationship with the City of Boston (which Director of Marketing Mitchell Gaynor cites as a significant factor for SPOT’s success), accumulate more than 15,000 users, and is currently in the process of raising a seed round of investment.  Not bad for a company that’s just getting started.

Even though SPOT is currently operating solely in Boston, it’s planning to expand its service to other cities very soon. Chicago is first on the list, with San Francisco, L.A. and Miami to quickly follow, and then the company plans to roll out in Philadelphia, D.C. and Seattle. Right now you’re probably thinking: “Why not NYC? After all, that’s the one place parking is even more of a bitch than in Boston.”  My thoughts exactly. However, according to Gaynor, parking in Manhattan is heavily regulated and garages hold an overarching monopoly, SPOT is postponing that move until it garners sufficient brand recognition. And then? The team just hopes to continue expanding while doing what it does best – helping people.

“We recently contracted a school to rent out 15 parking spaces during the summer”, says Gaynor. “They will manage to capitalize on their untapped resources, with all the money going back to the school, so that it develops more afterschool programs for the kids”. A Salem native, Gaynor worked in advertising after graduating from Salem State University, but his heart wasn’t into it. After an extensive job search and what Golub deemed “the cockiest cover letter he ever read”, Mitch Gaynor landed at SPOT. “What keeps us motivated here”, he says, “is that we’re giving back to the people, allowing them to take their money back by capitalizing on the resources they have”.

Meet Splitzee – the Company That Takes the Money Out of the Game

It’s spring and you’re excited to start playing softball again. It’s gonna be so much fun playing with your team again, winning and feeling badass….only if you didn’t have to deal with all that money crap. Tim never covers his league dues and Carrie never pays on time. And on top of that Suzzie just announced she’s getting married, so y’all will have to get her a gift. At this rate you’ll get your money back sometime in 2016…

Enter Splitzee*. This Boston-based startup helps you collect money from multiple people and not worry about reimbursement. You always pull your money together beforehand and then withdraw it, once you’ve reached your goal. The coolest part? You can use it for absolutely anything – from baby showers and birthday gifts to trips and nights out.

Splitzee hits 100!

Still, if you’re an athlete, you’ll probably go head over heels for it even more. Splitzee is in fact focusing on social sports teams, allowing them to collect money for league dues, uniforms, post-workout drinks and anything in between. The company which launched a partnership with the Boston Ski & Sports Club in early March already has more than 100 teams and more than 1000 new users signed up. The premise behind it? Team captains are not supposed to be bill collectors. They shouldn’t deal with all the money collection stress, but just enjoy the game. Sounds good? That’s not even the best part. Splitzee’s putting together a Team Captain Care Package with goodies tailored to those with active lifestyles and has promised to pay the league dues of one of every 100 teams that sign up. Now, that’s commitment!

So, what’s next? According to the company’s President, Michael Sattler, there are infinite possibilities. Although Splitzee seems to love social sports, it also wants to branch out. Got a kid that plays a sport? Better use Splitzee to pay for the coach gift, ’cause they will be chipping in. The company just announced that it will pay $20 towards each and every coach gift fund its users start. Will they take away the pain from youth sports next? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

*Disclaimer: I used to work there.