In the latest stage of a programme run by the New York City Investment Fund and Accenture, six entrepreneurs have been presenting their financial technology innovations to the venture capitalist community.
The FinTech Innovation Lab whittled down a list of 90 start-up companies developing commercial technology products with potential applications in financial services to the final six in March.
Since May, the entrepreneurs have developed, tested and fine-tuned their innovations, backed by mentors, feedback and market access from 10 of the world's biggest banks - Bank of America, Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, State Street.
Coaching, business advice and $25,000 in funding for expenses for each start-up was also given by venture capital firms Contour Venture Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, Rho Ventures, RRE Ventures, Village Ventures and Warburg Pincus.
The six participants have now been given the chance to provide the venture community a look at their products:
- Aqumin uses interactive 3D technology, to provide visual analysis and interpretation of vast, disparate sources of public and proprietary market data, helping market professionals to identify patterns and extract information.
- CB Insights' Mosaic assesses the health of private small businesses by finding signals of strength or weakness in publicly available information sources.
- Hanweck Associates offers real-time analytics and risk products for top-tier hedge funds, banks, broker/dealers and other financial institutions.
- Lenddo.com analyses online social networks to assess credit worthiness.
- Syphr provides personalised credit management and financial optimisation applications that help financial institutions and online finance sites attract business.
- Zipmark is a mobile and online payments company that works like a cheque, using a mobile barcode to accept secure payments from any bank, thrift or credit union.
Maria Gotsch, CEO, New York City Investment Fund, says: "These companies are among the innovators who are creating the next generation in financial technology. By giving them access to important potential customers, we are helping entrepreneurs to accelerate their growth and achieve an edge on competitors around the world."
Steve Randich, co-head, ICG Technology and co-CIO, Citibank, adds: "We believe technology innovation is a key factor of gaining competitive advantage, and we are delighted to be part of a process that attracts innovative companies to be closer to the financial industry in New York City and helps them grow and foster emerging technologies that benefit us."