Earlier this year we celebrated the 15th anniversary of the FinTech Innovation Lab. As I look back on the 130 companies that have graduated from our New York program, raising over $3 billion and creating more than 3,000 jobs, I’m struck by how much has changed—and what has surprisingly stayed the same.

Our vantage point is unique. Every year, we survey the senior technology executives at our partnering financial institutions to understand their priorities for the coming year, and the cohort is then selected by those senior executives. Those priorities and the composition of the cohort offer a window into the needs of the broader financial services industry. After 15 years, that data tells a fascinating story of evolution.

Below, I reflect on the fintech trends that have endured, the evolving narrative of innovation, and how NYC has become the epicenter for global fintech innovation through the power of partnership.

- Maria Gotsch, President & CEO, Partnership Fund for New York City