San Francisco–based Lending Club’s $5.4 billion initial public offering late last year — the largest for a U.S.-based tech company in 2014 — represented a fresh peak for this new wave of startups, shining attention on a corner of the technology world that had long sat in the shadow of the giants of consumer tech, such as Amazon, Facebook and Google. Lending is a big focus for startups in the burgeoning sector, as are payments and billing (Stripe, Square), wealth management (Wealthfront, Betterment), personal finance (Robinhood, Acorns) and digital currency and blockchain applications (Coinbase, Blockstream). Most of these companies are building products for the retail market, but startups with an institutional finance focus are growing in number as well.

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