The project, Zone2boost, will be established as a new company owned by CaixaBank (40%), Global Payments (40%) and Ingenico (20%) and will rely on Barcelona business school IESE as collaborating entity.

The initiative will be launched in the last quarter of 2019 and will entail an initial investment of EUR5 million over the next three years. Once the space is fully operational, it is expected to be able to accommodate approximately thirty companies.

Startups selected for the programme will obtain funding and access to a physical space to develop their projects, and a team of expert mentors that will provide customised training and advice. Additionally, DayOne, CaixaBank's division providing specialised services to startup businesses, will offer tailored financing.

With the support package spanning anywhere between six months to two years, Caixa Bank, Global Payments and Ingenico will have first dibs at incorporating successful outcomes into their commercial programmes.

Juan Antonio Alcaraz, CaixaBank's chief business officer, says: "CaixaBank currently benefits from the collaboration of startups in the development of its innovation, but we believe that the time has come to go one step further and become truly involved in the process of developing new business projects for the sector. We will provide these recently established companies with the optimal environment to test their idea's potential for success."

It's not the first time the Spanish bank has teamed up withe a network of multi-sectoral partners to sniff out innovation opportunities. In March 2017, CaixaBank, Global Payments, Samsung, Visa and BNP Paribas-owned Arval jointly invested EUR5 million in a Barcelona-based Payment Innovation Hub to confront new frontiers for payments in e-commerce and the Internet of Things.