Silicon Valley Bank, the bank of the world's most innovative companies and their investors, and First Data (NYSE: FDC), a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, have selected four startups to participate in Class 6 of Commerce.Innovated., an accelerator designed to help commerce, payments, and fintech companies grow their businesses.
The four-month virtual program provides participants with operational mentorship from Silicon Valley Bank, First Data, and their respective networks.
The four companies selected to participate in the current class come from across the U.S. and provide a variety of solutions for businesses and consumers:
• Apostrophe: A healthcare savings-as-a-service startup for self-insured employers based in Denver
• Blueprint Registry: A peer-to-peer gifting and life event fundraising platform based in Seattle
• Finix: A payment infrastructure platform enabling real-time push-to-card disbursements based in San Francisco
• Headnote: A transaction network for the legal industry based in San Francisco
"As the category of fintech expands, Commerce.Innovated. continues to attract various companies that are bringing differentiated models to market," said Reetika Grewal, Head of Silicon Valley Bank's Payments Strategy and Solutions Group. "I'm always impressed by the passion and caliber of the entrepreneurs we see through the program. We're excited to work closely with Class 6 to support the participants' impressive business goals."
"At First Data, innovation is at the heart of everything we do. It's exciting to see the disruptive technology these startups are working to bring to market, especially when you consider how they could be shaping the daily consumer experience for the future," said Christine Larsen, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, First Data. "I'm delighted to see Class 6 take shape and look forward to watching their growth as they move through the Commerce.Innovated. program."
Commerce.Innovated. launched in 2014 and has worked with 24 commerce, payments and fintech-focused startups to date, including Alloy, AppZen, Apruve, CardFlight, Dash, Domuso, Earny, Float, Footmarks, Gone, LaunchKey, LiveApp, Local Maven, Nowsta, Pay By Group, PennyOwl, Slide, SmartGift, SnapUp, Spend Labs, Splitwise, Standard Treasury, Truebill, and Qwil. Since graduating from the program, more than half of the companies in the program have raised funding or been acquired.