Europe's Startupbootcamp has opened a three-month fintech accelerator programme with support from multiple corporations, including Lloyds, Rabobank and MasterCard.
Kicking off in August, ten successful startups will be chosen from an early-stage selection process to qualify for a €15,000 award and over three months' free office space in London's Rainmaking Loft, a 10,000ft2 start-up hub in the iconic St. Katharine Docks, next to Tower Bridge.
Here the companies will benefit from mentorship from 100+ entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate partners, helping guide them through each of the 'shape', 'build', and 'sell' stages of their development. Startupbootcamp FinTech's partnership with Lloyds and MasterCard will also provide firms with access to pilot customers, industry data, APIs and capital.
Alessandro Hatami, director of digital payments and innovation at Lloyds Banking Group, says: " Through this partnership, we hope to help smaller fintech businesses get access to the expertise and funding they need in order to grow. We will work with Startupbootcamp to advise startups on how to become more effective in working with large financial institutions, especially by providing insight on customers' needs and expectations."
Teams will also benefit from legal advice from specialist law firm, MJ Hudson and public relations advice from the influence team at Clarity PR.
Furthering its interest in the hot fintech space, Startupbootcamp is also planning a series of global events, including hackathons, later-stage meet-ups with financial services execs, and worldwide pitch days, inviting local start-up communities to pitch in front of fintech experts.
Nektarios Liolios, former Innovation Leader at Innotribe, and Startupbootcamp MD says: "We want to nurture talent, great ideas and innovation, and for us that also meant involving as much of the financial community as possible. That's why our mentors, investors and partners are made up of individuals from right across the financial services spectrum."
Liolios is among a host of top speakers joining Finextra and Level39 at the two-day Future Money event in April, which will explore the new wave of innovation sweeping across the financial services sector.