UK fund management house Octopus Investments has launched a fintech accelerator to nurture 'product-ready' startups, alongside an inhouse development incubator.
Applications for the 12-week accelerator programme - providing the usual mix of mentoring and office space - are now open, with the £6 billion fund promising to invest or ‘spin-in’ successful cohort businesses.
The inhouse incubator will seek to self-build new products that can be released to clients across the entire Octopus Investments network. The first product to emerge from the scheme is a peer-to-peer lending application dubbed Octopus Choice which the fund says was built and tested in co-operation with its 3,500-strong advisor network.
Richard Wazacz, head of Octopus Labs, says: “Octopus Labs takes the existing strengths of our business - our established customer base, distribution channels, skills and expertise - and adds a start-up dimension. The result is a powerful new force that will quickly develop new products and services to form part of the Octopus stable."