Launched in 2011, the Innotribe Startup Challenge has grown into one of the industry’s premiere innovation competitions in financial services. For 2015, applications increased by 32% compared to 2014, bringing the total number of early-stage and growth-stage startup applications to nearly 370 worldwide. This represents an annual progression of 43% since 2013.

The judging and ranking of these companies is underway and the 2015 semi-finalists will be announced in the coming days. More than 500 judges from across the financial, technology, and investment communities will evaluate the applications and select the top 60 companies that will compete in the regional showcases in London (22 April), Cape Town (6 May), Singapore (28 May) and New York (18 June). Five companies from each regional showcase will be invited to compete in the Grand Finale to be held on 14 October 2015 at Sibos in Singapore.

“Every year, Innotribe invites a number of banks, leading financial institutions, technology vendors, and professional services providers to be an integral part of our programme,” says Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Markets Management, Innotribe, and the SWIFT Institute at SWIFT. “We believe it is essential for companies to identify opportunities to work together, share experiences and learnings, and debate common challenges and opportunities. If we want to move forward as an industry, there is nothing better than collaboration across the various fintech communities.”

Since its inception, the Innotribe Startup Challenge has brought the financial services and technology communities together and has also helped nurture the talent of numerous fintech startups, providing them that much needed exposure to financial institutions, investors, and VCs.

Vandenreydt adds, “Our core sponsorship programme is the centrepiece of our larger efforts to support and promote innovation within the financial services industry. We are delighted that Wells Fargo, Luxembourg for Finance, Level39, Invest Northern Ireland and HP has confirmed their support for 2015. I’m confident our collaboration will help us to further advance innovation in financial services and also benefit the startups participating in this year’s programme.”

Introducing the 2015 Innotribe Startup Challenge Sponsors
“Wells Fargo is focused on innovation for our customers’ benefit, and the SWIFT Innotribe Startup Challenge gives us an opportunity to get involved and connected with the brightest startups from around the world,” says Bipin Sahni, Head of Innovation, Research and Development at Wells Fargo Wholesale Services. “We want to collaborate with startups on a wide range of technologies that will help shape future customer banking experiences. The Innotribe Startup Challenge is valuable for this.”

"We sponsor the Startup Challenge because we believe that technological innovation is essential to the future development of the financial industry. This event is the ideal platform to link up innovative ideas with relevant industry actors. Having played a pioneering role in various fields of financial services, the Luxembourg financial centre is committed to bringing its expertise to the burgeoning fintech sector", says Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance.

We would like to express special thanks to L39, INI, and HP for their continued support and look forward to another great year working together.
“We are proud to be sponsoring Innotribe Startup Challenge for the third year”, says Karena Vaughan, Invest Northern Ireland’s Regional Director Europe. “Innotribe’s focus on collaborative innovation is mirrored in Northern Ireland’s own vibrant and innovative financial technology sector.”

“HP is delighted to continue our sponsorship of Innotribe in 2015. Sibos last year proved once again that Innotribe is the key FinTech Startup competition in the Industry. HP remains committed to driving innovation internally, through our major partner’s and in the early-stage tech community,” says Jeremy Suddards, Vice President & General Manager, Financial Services Industry, HP.

"We are very pleased to sponsor and host SWIFT's Innotribe Startup Challenge for the third year in a row. Level39 launched in March 2013 and, only a few months later, we worked with the Innotribe team to bring some excellent young companies to our Canary Wharf home as part of the challenge. Two years on, it fills us with pride to see that Innotribe has gone from strength to strength, and continues to unearth some startup gems from around the world,” says Eric Van der Kleij, Head of Level39.