Seven start-ups selected for FinTech Innovation Lab London

FinTech Innovation Lab London has selected seven start-ups to participate in its annual event at Level39, Europe’s largest financial technology space.

The 12-week programme is designed to nurture early-stage companies from the UK, through a series of panel discussions, workshops, leadership coaching and networking opportunities by leading executives from financial services, venture capital and angel investment firms.

It culminates in an opportunity to present the concepts to potential investors and industry executives at an investor day hosted at Royal Bank of Scotland’s offices in March.

The Lab – supported by the Mayor of London and the City of London Corporation and Innovate UK – was launched in London in 2012 from a collaboration between Accenture and 13 of the world’s leading financial institutions, including Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Deputy mayor Kit Malthouse commented: “Being at the cutting edge of technology innovation is crucial to strengthening London’s position as the leading global financial centre.

“Programmes such as the FinTech Innovation Lab are an essential part of the FinTech infrastructure and play an important role in ensuring we continue to generate jobs and attract leading financial businesses to London.”

The participating companies are:

• Duco, a technology company that helps financial services firms control and manage complex data
• Astora, which provides financial institutions with innovative tools for small business owners
• Cytora, a provider of geopolitical risk assessments for companies operating in volatile, emerging or complex markets
• Pontus Networks, focused on improving the performance of clients’ computer systems it claims it can make some business software run three times faster
  
• Ripjar, which offers real-time social media monitoring and data analysis using proprietary natural language processing, deep learning algorithms and visualisations
• Torusware, focused on boosting IT systems’ processing speeds for both cloud or on-premise systems, meaning trading systems, for example, can exchange information in nanoseconds
• xWare42, through core xPay this software start-up enables banks to provide additional information to customers about purchases, meaning banks and partner retailers can offer personalised discounts

Group chief executive, financial services, at Accenture Richard Lumb said: “Commercialising innovations is often the toughest challenge for entrepreneurs and that’s why it is so valuable to bring these early-stage companies together with their potential customers.

“The Innovation Lab program also gives banks new exposure to the technologies they need to stay ahead. Since we launched the London Lab three years ago, the 14 companies that have passed through the programme have raised more than $25m in new investment and signed nearly 50 contracts to do business with banks.”

Chief administrative officer, Royal Bank of Scotland, Simon McNamara added: “Advances in technology and shifts in customer expectations bring both disruption and opportunity, and we need to recognise that banking is now a digital business. Our work with FinTech startups can help us to respond to this challenge and help them achieve their business goals.”