2021, Alumni: After doubling his fin-tech company’s headcount in 2020, Charlie Youakim is looking to bring even more employees on board in the new year. The company, which is based in Minneapolis but publicly traded in Australia, is expanding its workforce to accommodate growing interest in its buy-now, pay-later platform.

2020, Pioneer: Dozens of Minnesota companies have established a presence overseas, but it’s less common to go public in a foreign country, let alone Australia. But in July, Minneapolis-based Sezzle did just that—listed on the Australian Securities Exchange after netting $30 million from its initial public offering in the country. Sezzle’s “buy now, pay later” payment platform enables users to divide retail purchases into interest-free payments over six weeks. CEO Charlie Youakim is still betting on growth in the North American market, where the platform has already taken off. As of June, it was working with more than 5,000 merchants, a big increase from just 815 at the same time last year.