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Financial Technology Partners

“Can a single boutique investment bank own the entirety of fintech M&A and private capital advisory globally by focusing exclusively on the sector?”

Founded2002
HQSan Francisco, California, United States
FoundersSteve McLaughlin
IndustryInvestment Banking / Fintech Advisory
The story

Founded in 2002 by Steve McLaughlin, formerly Global Head of FinTech investment banking at Goldman Sachs, FT Partners was established as the only investment bank focused exclusively on the financial technology sector. The firm identified a gap in the market where traditional financial institution bankers found fintech deals too small and technology bankers found them too unusual. Over two decades, FT Partners grew from a one-man operation assisted by unpaid Berkeley interns into a firm with ~250-321 employees advising on hundreds of fintech M&A and capital-raising transactions globally. The firm's embedded finance angle is advisory — it serves as the deal intermediary and strategic advisor for fintech companies, rather than operating embedded finance infrastructure itself.

Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2001
Firm established as a boutique investment bank exclusively focused on the financial technology sector, offering M&A advisory, private capital raising, and related services.· banking
2002
Steve McLaughlin founded FT Partners from his apartment in Pacific Heights, San Francisco, after leaving Goldman Sachs where he was Global Head of Financial Technology investment banking.· pivot
Regulated entities
1
regulatory licence held by Financial Technology Partners
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
1 layer disclosed in Financial Technology Partners’s embedded-finance stack
Unified APIs
Finicity
Accounting gap: none

Financial Technology Partners — frequently asked

Who founded Financial Technology Partners?

Financial Technology Partners was founded by Steve McLaughlin and is founded in 2002, headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States.

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