While there is still plenty of bad economic news, positive reports are starting to trickle in. Hopefully by this time next year, the Great Recession will be in the rear-view mirror.

Our bit of optimistic news is the outstanding turnout for our second annual FinovateStartup conference taking place April 28. Thanks to the creativity, energy, and sheer willpower of fintech entrepreneurs worldwide (note 1), we have 57 startups participating this year compared to 39 in 2008. And we've just surpassed last year's event registration total ensuring that the auditorium will be buzzing with an audience ready to feed on all those new ideas.

And more important than raw attendance numbers, is the fact that subjects being tackled this year are much bigger and potentially more disruptive than last. It's almost mind-boggling when I look at the list of demos we'll see in a single day (note 2): 

• A bank optimized entirely around the mobile channel
• A new approach to decoupled debit
• Several approaches to dramatically lowering transaction costs at
  the online point of sale by bypassing Visa and MasterCard
• A mutual fund created to invest in unsecured personal loans
  originated online in a social environment
• New peer-to-peer services supporting borrowing and payments
• The integration of financial management tools with payments accounts
• Platforms that allow financial institutions to customize their own
  financial offerings around market segments and/or personal finance needs
• New, transparent marketplaces for buying and selling debt instruments in
  large quantities ($ billions potentially)

We truly appreciate the show of support in a trying year and even now are plotting ways to get even more startups on stage next year. For a complete list of startup demos, see our Quick Guide.

If you haven't registered yet, this is the last week to do so and save $100 over the last-minute price.  

Notes:
1. See our previous post, "Why Financial Technology Remains Important"
2. It's a single-track event, so you'll be able to see all 36 demos. The secret, each lasts no more than seven minutes.