Italy's UniCredit is to simultaneously run three 24-hour mobile and wearable finance hackthons in Milan, Vienna and Munich.
The Appathon 2015 event will challenge teams of developers to invent, design and develop a prototype mobile app for financial services, whether by phone or wearable device, with a EUR15000 prize awarded to the top coders.
In Italy, developers will have access to UniCredit API infrastructure, loaded on an external playground with fake data, and API management tools provided by Axway.
Running from 7-8 November, the Appthon comes two weeks before UniCredit opens a digital pavillion at virtual event 'GlabalStartup Expo', showcasing products from 60 Italian startups that have passed through the UniCredit StartLab acceleration programme.
International investors visiting the online expo can pick up business cards, brochures and catalogues from the virtual stands and organise video calls or chats with those that pique their interest.
"In a context of ongoing globalisation, digital platforms are becoming a powerful business tool, and for this reason we have decided to build our own digital pavilion to present the startups that we believe have the most growth potential," explains Gabriele Piccini, country chairman of UniCredit for Italy. "Global StartUp Expo represents an opportunity to showcase young Italian innovators to incubators, stakeholders, venture capitalists as well as corporate and private clients."