Financial technology entrepreneurs are being invited to pitch to take part in a London-based programme that will see them get assistance and advice from, and exposure to, executives at major banks and venture capital companies.
Now in its second year, the FinTech Innovation Lab London is run by Accenture and backed by financial services giants including Bank of America, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds, Morgan Stanley, RBS and UBS.
Start-ups in areas such as mobile, payments, big data, security, and social media are being invited to apply by 8 September to take part in the 12-week programme.
Senior tech executives from banks will then whittle the applicants - who must have at least a beta version of their offering - down to six. The successful firms will then take part in a twelve-week programme, in which they are partnered with bank executives who will help them fine-tune their technologies and business strategies through workshops, panel discussions, user-group sessions, networking opportunities, one-on-one meetings and presentations.
At the end of the programme, in March, all six will take part in an investor day presentation in front of an audience of venture capitalists and financial industry executives.
Shaygan Kheradpir, chief operations and technology officer, Barclays, says: "The increasing role of technology in financial services is accelerating the pace and breadth of innovation and driving the kind of cutting-edge services which our customers and clients demand. The entrepreneurial approach that the FinTech Innovation Lab London delivers is exactly the kind of capability that this industry needs and we are delighted to be supporting it."