DriveWealth Founder Robert Cortright Wins EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 New York Award

Quick Summary

Robert Cortright, Founder of DriveWealth, has been named the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 New York winner. This award recognizes his pioneering work in fractional share trading and embedded finance infrastructure, which has democratized access to U.S. equities for millions of global retail investors through DriveWealth's B2B platform.

How Does DriveWealth Enable Global Fractional Investing?

DriveWealth provides the critical API infrastructure that allows banks and fintechs to offer fractional share trading to their customers. By dismantling the barriers of high share prices, the platform enables users to purchase as little as a single penny of stock. This Brokerage-as-a-Service model has transformed how retail investors interact with U.S. markets. Key metrics of their impact include:

• Support for over 100 global institutions.
• Operations spanning more than 30 different countries.
• Processing capacity of 10 million trades daily.

What Makes Robert Cortright’s Leadership Award-Winning?

The EY panel selected Cortright based on his long-term value creation and his history of disrupting legacy finance. Having previously revolutionized the FX market with FX Solutions, Cortright applied the same entrepreneurial spirit to equities in 2012. He successfully bootstrapped and scaled a platform that now handles billions in notional value every day. His vision focuses on making investing seamlessly woven into everyday life, ensuring that fractional share trading remains a cornerstone of modern wealth creation.

What is the Future of Embedded Brokerage Services?

As a New York award winner, Cortright is now a contender for the National Entrepreneur Of The Year title. The industry is shifting toward always-on financial infrastructure, where geographic and income barriers are entirely removed. DriveWealth is positioned at the center of this global investing shift, providing the scalable B2B technology required for the next generation of financial apps. The company continues to focus on diversified portfolio building for the mass market, proving that fractional share trading is not just a feature, but a fundamental utility.

FF NEWS TAKE:

Robert Cortright winning this award is a significant validation for the embedded finance sector. While many fintechs focus on the front-end, DriveWealth’s success proves that the real power - and value - lies in the plumbing of the markets. By making fractional share trading a global standard, Cortright hasn't just built a company; he has fundamentally altered the market participation architecture. This moves the needle by proving that B2B infrastructure is the most scalable path to financial inclusion.