Fintech startups: A week in review

The world’s startup hotspots

An infographic produced by The Currency Cloud visualises the most popular startup markets around the world. 1st place goes to Silicon Valley, no surprise. 2nd place Tel Aviv. Highlights include a city where the average age of the entrepreneur is 27.9 and a city where 18% of the tech entrepreneurs are female.

Accelerators are not VCs – Fundacity blog

A blog by the startup-connectors, Fundacity, argues that it is in fact difficult for accelerators to keep in touch with their alumni startups. It’s a combination of intention and inefficiency. They also argue that not all accelerators are judged by the quantity of successful exits. They explain that accelerators shouldn’t focus on trying to ‘rocket’ the growth of their startups – but rather help them secure the next round of funding.

Bitcoin in Argentina: The Movie

ProtocoITV have completed a documentary about bitcoin in Argentina, aptly titled ‘Bitcoin: Buenos Aires’ – the movie is being crowdfunded on Tilt. A $5 contribution gets you a twitter shoutout, while $20 gets you the movie itself. No surprises that the majority of donations have come in the form of bitcoin.

Azimo gets a CNN spot

Azimo, the global remittances outfit, have been covered in a CNN piece for their ‘Future Finance’ section. They look at the remittance market and how Azimo is well placed to disrupt the sector. They cite analysts and focus on Azimo, but acknowledge other players exist in the space.

Accenture launches Asian innovation lab

Tom Groenfeldt, Forbes contributor, reports on Accenture’s innovation lab which has just launched in Hong Kong with eight firms. The firms’s sectors range from analysis to security to risk. Notable entrants include Advanced Merchant Payments and Bejing Wecash Wonder.

Estimize and Wall Street

Crains, an NY-based business journal, does a piece on Leigh Drogen and his startup Estimize, the open platform that aggregates analyst and trader estimate data. Leigh discusses the troubles he faced with investors and growth challenges.

Fintech leads London investment boom

Fintech startups have emerged as the hottest ticket in London for venture capital investors, taking the lion's share of VC-directed funds in the first half of the year. According to data from corporate finance house Ascendent, 22 fintech startups walked away with just under £300 million of VC funds in the first six months of the year.