Community FinTech: Building Financial Infrastructure for the Creative Economy #CTTechWeek
Community FinTech is an intimate CT Tech Week conversation exploring how investors, creators, freelancers, local businesses, and technologists are rethinking trust, commerce, and financial infrastructure for the gig economy.
Hosted by Ira Revels (GigTōk & My Grant CoPilot) and Jocelyn Cerda (Mercado Popular), the discussion will explore gig and creator economies, community credits, reputation systems, AI, and local economic circulation — and what comes next for Connecticut’s innovation ecosystem.
Local farm-raised appetizers and spiked cider will be served.
Limited seating available.
Learn more:
#CTTechWeek #Hartford #CreativeEconomy #FinTech #GigTok
The conversation is inspired by “The Sleeping Phoenix,” an essay by Ira Revels that examins the convergence of creator economies, local commerce, and decentralized participation systems.
For decades, the dominant narrative said value creation required scale, institutional backing, and access to capital.
AI just changed that.
Today, a solopreneur with expertise and the right tools can:
produce professional content
build distribution channels
automate operations
accept payments
and build a portable reputation
What they still cannot easily access is financial infrastructure designed around how they actually work.
Traditional banks do not know how to underwrite creators with inconsistent income. Credit systems rarely recognize community trust. Payment systems were not built for micro-transactions circulating across local ecosystems.
That is the gap this conversation explores.
The Questions Worth Exploring
If you're an investor:
What happens when consumers are also producers?
How do you underwrite trust and reputation?
The creator economy is $250B and growing. The gig economy is $450B. Local CT commerce is $4T. What happens when infrastructure finally connects these three?
If you're a founder or solopreneur:
What systems are still missing for creators and independent workers?
How do local ecosystems create defensibility that large platforms cannot replicate?
Where does AI create entirely new economic behavior — not just better productivity?
If you're a small business owner:
How do you build loyalty against national chains with larger budgets?
What happens when local spending circulates within community networks?
How do local creators become long-term growth partners instead of one-time contractors?
If you're in policy or economic development:
How do communities retain value in increasingly digital economies?
What does workforce development look like in an era of self-employment and micro-enterprises?
How should policy evolve to support creators, freelancers, and solopreneurs?
What We're Building
GigTōk is building financial infrastructure for the creative economy through Trust Scores, community credits, and local marketplace tools designed around how creators and freelancers actually work. Rather than functioning as another gig platform, GigTōk explores how local economic systems can reward participation, trust, and collaboration while keeping value circulating within communities.
My Grant CoPilot is an AI-powered grant discovery and funding operations platform helping nonprofits, entrepreneurs, artists, and community organizations access funding opportunities with greater clarity, strategy, and efficiency.
Mercado Popular is a Hartford-based community food hub and cultural marketplace connecting local farms, food entrepreneurs, artists, and residents through community-centered commerce, events, and food access initiatives.
Hosted By
Ira Revels — Founder, GigTōk & My Grant CoPilot
Jocelyn Cerda — Founder, Mercado Popular
Learn more:
Local farm-raised food and spiked cider will be served.
Limited seating available.
This event is part of CT Tech Week, a statewide series bringing together founders, investors, technologists, operators, artists, and community leaders shaping Connecticut’s innovation ecosystem.
#CTTechWeek #Hartford #CreativeEconomy #FinTech #CommunityWealth #GigTok