Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore, the leading global accelerator focusing on financial innovation, organized Demo Day for the top 10 FinTech teams at Gardens by the Bay. The event witnessed a gathering of more than 600 guests from across the financial sector, including leading investors from Southeast Asia.
The top ten startups were selected from more than 380 applications hailing from various FinTech areas – InsurTech, Wealth Management, Personal Finance Management, and many others. The startups were offered access to world class industry expertise during an intensive three month accelerator program. They were also provided open access to extensive mentorship opportunities from over 400 entrepreneurs, investors and corporate partners. They helped guide them through the ‘Shape’, ‘Build’ and ‘Sell’ stages of their startups.
Demo Day was designed to showcase the startups’ ventures on center stage with the objective of attracting strategic partnerships and investments. Talking about the success of the event, Steven Tong, MD of Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore added that,
2016 saw a diverse cohort of FinTech startups hailing from 7 different countries across APAC. This reflects the increasingly maturing FinTech ecosystems across the region. From entering the program, the teams have made impressive developments, transforming their products, building partnerships and getting terms sheets on the table. We are excited to see where these FinTech entrepreneurs will be 6 months from now.
MD Steven Tong addressing the attendees at Startupbootcamp Demo Day, held today at Gardens by the Bay.
The 2016 cohort of startups have secured a total of 11 pilots and key partnerships, with 8 more lined up to get sealed. Connaizen, a startup that crunches transaction data to provide personalised card-linked offers, have partnered with ICICI bank and RuPay in India to run pilot programs for their 295 million card holders. These partnerships come alongside Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore growing its corporate partners from 9 to 12 in the 2016 programme and further deepening its networkings across APAC.
The solutions the FinTech startups are coming up with, will be responsible for the transformation of the interactions and services provided by various Corporations. They are giving rise to a disruptive ecosystem for mobile and banking products, gaining trust of consumers with their efficiency, security, and quick services.
In a PwC report released early this year, 75% of surveyed industry respondents said that the most important challenge for the FinTech startups will be in meeting the growing demand from increasingly digital native customers who require exceptional user experience and security from their financial services providers. Today’s startups showcase how their solutions can close this gap by offering enhanced accessibility, convenience and tailored products.
FinTech startups play a crucial role in identifying service gaps and inefficiencies and coming up with innovative solutions to make the customer’s life better. The onus is on traditional players to harness the brainpower of these startups and collaborate to bring innovative solutions to market faster and rewrite the financial services rulebook together. Startupbootcamp offers a great platform to help facilitate this coming together of expertise and resources.
said Antony Eldridge, FinTech and Financial Services Leader, PwC Singapore.
Launched in 2014, Startupbootcamp FinTech is the leading FinTech accelerator, and the only programme of its kind to attract such wide industry support. Based in London, New York and Singapore, its partners include MasterCard, Thomson Reuters, Accreditation@IDA, Intesa Sanpaolo, DBS Bank, RHB Bank, CIMB Bank, PwC, ThinkZone, Infocomm Investments, Jungle Ventures and Pix Vine Capital, as well as an extensive mentor and alumni network from more than 50 countries across the globe.
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