Introducing our 2025 WMNfintech Cohort!
We’re excited to announce the 2025 WMNfintech cohort, a new class of fintech startups helping shape the future of financial services.
Powered by BMO in partnership with 1871, the WMNfintech accelerator is a leader in the fintech space, driving change in the ways retail and commercial clients interact with their financial institutions. Since 2020, WMNfintech has been building the most powerful ecosystem in fintech with tailored sponsorship, resources and market insights that have helped raise $50 million in capital and create 200+ jobs, contributing to economic growth and inclusive innovation across North America.
This momentum comes as fintech continues to reshape the way consumers and businesses manage their finances. In 2024, 92% of U.S. consumers reported using digital payments – from contactless credit cards to mobile wallets – with adoption rates continuing to climb across North America. And while fintech still accounts for just 3% of global banking and insurance revenues, its influence is far outpacing its market share, signaling enormous room for future growth and untapped potential. Programs like WMNfintech play a critical role in accelerating that growth by nurturing the next wave of industry disruptors.
Over the summer, the 2025 cohort will further develop their services and solutions through tailored product, business development and entrepreneurial programming. Each member will also receive exclusive mentorship from BMO executive leaders to help navigate startup fundamentals, including pitch practice and potential access to capital and funding.
At the end of the program, participants will travel to Chicago for the final showcase, where they’ll have the opportunity to share their business solutions and services with various stakeholders, banking partners, regulators and trade groups for feedback and support.
We’re excited to welcome the five startups and CEOs that make up this year’s WMNfintech cohort:
Annika Ng, co-founder and COO of Blossom Social
Blossom Social is a digital community of over 250,000 investors sharing their verified stock portfolios, trades and investment ideas, helping individuals become better investors. With a mission to empower the world to make better financial decisions, they’re building a space for everyone to learn – and getting recognized for it. Blossom Social was selected by Apple as one of the Top 25 Apps for 2025, an Essential Finance App of 2024 and an Essential Social App of 2025.
Erika Bahr, founder and CEO of Daxe
Daxe is at the forefront of transforming legal diligence processes with its cutting-edge, AI-powered platform. Leveraging advanced speech-to-code technology and confidential computing first conceived for the highest levels of security with AI, Daxe offers a revolutionary solution for legal professionals. With Daxe, law firms and legal departments can navigate the complexities of their work more effectively, harnessing the power of AI to enhance productivity and safeguard client data.
Vanessa Galarneau, co-founder and CFO of Pluvo
Pluvo helps companies make faster, smarter decisions by connecting strategy, operations and financials in one unified platform. Powered by AI, Pluvo turns simple prompts into dynamic models, forecasts and shareable insights – fast, accurate and easy to follow. This isn’t a tool just for finance – it’s for every operator who needs to move fast, stay aligned and understand the impact of every decision.
Gwyneth Borden, founder and CEO of Remynt
Remynt is a digital-first debt buyer/collector and credit building company, buying portfolios of charged-off consumer credit card debt and offering those consumers the opportunity to rebuild and earn new credit, financial management tools, community, a savings account and rewards for repayment. Remynt’s novel approach enables consumers to opt into credit rebuilding products during the repayment process.
Lerato Matsio, founder and CEO of Trudenty
Trudenty’s Consumer Trust Network helps merchants, issuers, acquirers and processors collaborate through data sharing to prevent first-party and APP fraud. The network provides a 360-degree view of a consumer’s fraud risk for friendly fraud, without exposing personal or transactional data. At its core, the Consumer Trust Index provides companies with a view of how their customers act beyond their network, enabling the detection of fraudsters operating outside their network before they cause harm.
As part of our Purpose to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, this program drives economic progress by supporting small businesses, empowering entrepreneurs and investing in the future of financial services. From AI-powered sign language recognition software to cloud-based financial health solutions, WMNfintech founders and startups continue to demonstrate how technology is transforming the financial services industry – and pioneering a more innovative future.
We’re looking forward to seeing the incredible progress these startups make throughout the summer. To learn more about WMNfintech, visit the WMNfintech website.
