These startups are out to replace the Wall Street establishment (gs, jpm)

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Clik here to view.Some startups are out to find their place on Wall Street alongside the traditional players. And some are out to replace the establishment altogether. 

Big banks have long depended on antiquated and personnel-heavy businesses to do everything from marketing bond deals to striking currency transfers.

Some nimble start-ups have sought to partner with Wall Street firms and make these processes more efficient. Others have sought to step in to the gaps left behind by traditional players as a result of regulation. 

And then there is a group of startups founded in the U.S. and elsewhere that are out to disrupt them altogether. Some are off to a great start. 

Business Insider spoke with dealmakers, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to put together a list of the companies most likely to up-end Wall Street's traditional hierarchy.

When some of these companies come to “occupy” lower Manhattan, they might not ever leave. 

Kantox promises discounts on currency exchanges

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European startup Kantox was founded in 2011 by former Deloitte consultant Philippe Gelis, and has tapped into more than 1,500 businesses and processed in excess of $1.5 billion in transactions for them. It isn’t unlike TransferWise, another European payment processor, but Kantox focuses on currency exchange and has raised much less in funding than TransferWise. The company, which just took on $11 million in a Series B financing, even posts at its website what customers would have saved using its technology to transfer funds. Gelis says the company will be profitable by the end of 2015. 

Syndicated Loan Direct wants to take a bite out of the leveraged lending marketplace

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Syndicated Loan Direct was founded by Shaheen Malik Kanda and Angela Levine, who are veterans of the leveraged finance industry. The company is looking to market and sell leveraged loans to institutional investors, and is very early in its development; it has only raised pre-seed capital. "Only institutional clients use this platform," said Malik Kanda, adding that the product is currently being rolled out exclusively with large banks' leveraged finance sell-side desks. Existing backers include TechStars and ValueStream Labs. 

Acorns helps users squirrel away a savings account

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There are plenty of startups that aim to provide digital savings tools, but Acorns is changing the way people actually save. Much like how a squirrel plows away a stash of nuts for the winter, Acorns rounds up your purchases to the next dollar and socks away that loose change in a savings account. Earlier this year, the company brought in $23 million in a funding round, bringing total funding to more than $30 million. 

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