Wise has been behind a series of financial technology businesses, including InvestCloud, Netik and Synergo. Most recently he left InvestCloud in 2023 having earlier achieved a $1billion valuation for the firm he founded.

Fincentric is a 30 year old business best remembered under its original name of Wall Street on Demand, or more recently Markit on Demand.

Fincentric provides market data and charting, primarily to US brokerages serving self-directed investors. It will now merge with Communify, Wise’s latest startup, to become Communify Fincentric. Wise is CEO of the new organization.

According to Wise: “We’ve followed Wall Street on Demand to Markit on Demand to Fincentric over the years for their outstanding ability to create compelling user experiences with complex data sets to investors. The numbers speak for themselves – their product gets 165 million logins per month, accessing over 563 million page views per day whilst leveraging 4,000 unique data feeds.”

He expanded on the logic of merging the two businesses: “Unifying Fincentric’s market data capabilities with Communify’s expertise in client data creates a strong digital partner for the financial markets. Our shared client-centric, design-centric mindset will be pivotal as we look to grow Communify Fincentric domestically and worldwide.”

S&P Global was reported to be exploring the options for Fincentric in February 2024. Fincentric had earlier been rolled into S&P Global as part of the $44 billion acquisition of IHS Markit in 2020. The implication is that the business became overlooked inside its large parent. PE firm Stellex Capital Management funded the transaction and focuses on liberating under valued corporate assets.

According to Irina Krasik, Managing Director at Stellex: “We specialize in pairing strong assets with prominent operators in an effort to create value. We believe the team in Communify has stellar credentials at growing businesses and were the best partners for this opportunity.”

FinextraTV was able to catch up with John Wise to hear about the strategy behind the deal and his future plans for Communify Fincentric.