Beating off competition from more than 300 rivals from around the world, 11 fintech startups have scored spots on an accelerator programme run by banking giant Barclays.
The 11 startups will arrive at the Barclays Escalator, London's newest open innovation space, next week for the 15-week fintech accelerator programme, which is being run in conjunction with Techstars.
More than 300 companies from almost 50 countries worldwide applied for a place on the programme, with the winners pitching ideas ranging from an alternative to pay day loans, to a next generation credit scoring system, to a peer-to-peer funding platform for real estate.
Each team will get a seed investment of $20,000 - in return for a six percent equity stake in the finished product - from Techstars. They will also get support from a collection of mentors from Barclays and other industry players as well as access to Barclays resources, including Pingit APIs, and the bank's strategic investment team.
The programme will culminate in two investor demo days in September - including an internal presentation to Barclays executives and another to an invited audience of VCs and angel investors.
Derek White, chief design officer, Barclays, says: "Emerging technologies will transform our industry with many of the technologies surfacing from the start-up ecosystem. Recognising this, Barclays is partnering with start-ups to create and shape the fabric of the entrepreneur ecosystem and our Accelerator is a clear demonstration of that partnership in action."
The 11 teams are:
- Aire - Enabling financial access for consumers through a next generation credit scoring algorithm.
- ClauseMatch - Providing a cloud platform for matching and negotiating master agreements for trading over-the-counter derivatives and commodities.
- Crowdestates - Creating a peer-to-peer secured lending platform for residential mortgage deposits.
- DoPay - Providing financial access to people through their corporate payroll service.
- Gust Pay - Making music festivals more cashless using NFC wristbands and smartphone apps.
- Katalysator - Providing an in-store experience and payments platform, making it possible to send targeted messages to shoppers based on proximity to products.
- Market IQ - Providing actionable intelligence for investment professionals based on both structured and unstructured datasets.
- NoviCap - Enabling businesses in credit tight markets to quickly access growth financing by auctioning their outstanding invoices to investors.
- Tryum - Delivering the Oyster Card for the restaurant industry - a simple, central way to manage loyalty and payments across multiple retailers.
- Virtual View App - Providing augmented reality, together with interactive 360 degree images for social, retail, and commercial use.
- Wagevance - Providing an ethical and affordable alternative to payday loans, through wage-backed pay advances.