Swiss financial infrastructure provider SIX Group has set up a fintech incubator to work with startups on evaluating and developing innovative new products and services for the financial services industry.
Based in Zurich, the 'F10' incubator will be staffed by a number of small interdisciplinary teams of IT specialists, programmers and business economists charged with identifying tomorrow's technology trends and developing prototypes that can be deployed across the group.
"With its major financial centre, Switzerland has a great deal of potential to be able to make a key contribution to the area of financial technology," says Urs Rüegsegger, group CEO. "As a neutral financial service provider with a huge amount of specialist and IT knowledge, SIX is predestined to play a pioneering role.”
In March, SIX ran a weekend hackathon with a view to acquiring new talent ahead of the launch of the incubator. The firm is also represented in the Swiss FinTech Innovation Lab; is a member of the founding committee of DigitalZurich 2025; and signed a partnership this year with Impact Hub Zürich.
The group is currently in the midst of a major IT overhaul programme, removing technology responsibility from individual business units to create a centralised IT organisation.
The launch of the incubator is viewed as a key part of the revitalisation effort as the group complements its internal innovation programme by nurturing contacts and talent at promising third party startups.