From Toronto to Milwaukee: Why Cove Is Building the Future of Fintech in Wisconsin 

From Mississauga to Milwaukee, my journey in fintech has always been driven by the goal of building better access to financial products. Today, as founder of Cove Financial Software, I’m energized by the opportunity to build something that not only innovates financial technology but also empowers companies to create financial products that deepen customer relationships and generate new revenue.

My journey started in the Canadian fintech world at Neo Financial, where I got my first real taste of how financial services can be reimagined. Neo was helping brands beyond banking, like retail and hospitality, launch their own credit cards, putting earning and engagement opportunities directly into a company’s customer experience. I was fortunate to be on the team that helped launch Canada’s first branded credit card for Tim Hortons, an experience that taught me not just about product design, but about trust. Teaching me that customers will engage with financial products when they feel understood and valued.

After a stint with venture capital where I learned first-hand what makes startups succeed and stumble, I began experimenting with lending and buy now, pay later concepts. Early versions of what would become Cove were direct-to-consumer and unrefined, we lost money and learned hard lessons. However, those early iterations taught me something important, that our real strength was not in direct lending, but in the technology we were building. A technology that could allow others to embed meaningful financial services into their own customer journeys.

That realization transformed our focus from consumer lending to building a platform: Cove enables companies in real estate, insurance, mortgage, and beyond to launch financial products with minimal effort and maximum flexibility. Think of it as a Shopify for financial services, a suite of pre-built templates and APIs that allow businesses to embed niche financial tools, credit builders, underwriting solutions, and more directly into their user experience.

When we started gaining traction in Canada, we began looking south. The U.S. market’s depth of financial infrastructure and openness to embedded finance made it a natural next step. Rather than landing in traditional tech hubs like San Francisco or New York, we chose to plant roots in Milwaukee. The Midwest offered something invaluable: a growing startup ecosystem filled with deeply engaged partners, such as community banks, credit unions, and regional insurers, eager to innovate without being overwhelmed by competition for attention. In Wisconsin, introductions turn into partnerships, and curiosity turns into collaboration in ways I rarely saw in larger coastal markets.

Our work with Wisconsin financial institutions and tech partners is helping demonstrate how embedded financial products can improve customer engagement while opening new revenue streams. Along the way, we’ve learned that product depth matters. Our customers are now asking for deeper offerings, embedded insurance and lending products, beyond basic infrastructure tools. That insight is guiding Cove’s next phase of growth.

Looking ahead, our mission remains clear. To lower the barriers for companies to build financial products that reflect the real needs of the people they serve. And we believe Wisconsin with its collaborative business community and forward-looking approach to innovation is an ideal place to make that vision a reality.