FinTech Sandbox, a nonprofit that helps financial technology startups access data and resources continues to build its network with Morningstar, who would provide a select group of startup companies with free access to its global investment databases for six months, reported Think Advisor. In September, FinTech Sandbox partnered with Estimize, a provider of earnings and economic estimates contributed by the entire financial community. The addition of Estimize follows fellow crowdsourced trading data provider, StockTwits, who became a FinTech Sandbox partner in July and Quandl in August.
“Morningstar’s mission is to help investors reach their financial goals, and we want to work with companies that share this mission,” commented Joanna McGinley, Morningstar’s Global Head of Alliances and Redistributor Solutions, in a statement. “We are excited to contribute our data to FinTech Sandbox and the startups it supports.”
Boston-based FinTech Sandbox is currently sponsored by several firms, including Fidelity Investments, Devonshire Investors, Thomson Reuters, Silicon Valley Bank, Amazon Web Services, Intel, SIX Financial Information, Goodwin Procter and .406 Ventures. The organization, which facilitates free access to financial data and infrastructure for up-and-coming global financial technology firms, says it takes no fees and requires no equity from participating startups.
“Morningstar revolutionized mutual fund analysis, so they understand innovation in financial services. The company’s strong belief in supporting entrepreneurs in the global FinTech community makes Morningstar an excellent collaborator for our startups,” remarked Jean Donnelly, executive director of FinTech Sandbox, in a press release.
Morningstar says it plans to offer FinTech Sandbox participants access to the following data: Morningstar Managed Products Data, Morningstar Equity Data, Morningstar Real-Time Market Data, and Morningstar By All Accounts Data from more than 15,000 sources (including retirement accounts, 529 plans, annuities, bank accounts, credit cards, employee stock options, endowments, loans, offshore funds, REITs and more).