An internal blockchain-focused unit of Barclays Bank has made the cut to participate in the bank's 2016 accelerator programme, a space usually reserved for innovative startups that threaten the banking status quo.
Barclays’ Smart Contract Templates is developing a technology for capital markets that enables financial products to be defined in a novel way, permitting both legal contracts and executable business logic to be generated.
The unit is one of eleven companies to make the grade from a diverse pool of 700 applicants from across 77 countries.
The Barclays team will take their place alongside a cohort of small startups working working on innovations in machine learning prediction, compliance-as-a-service, smart insurance, IoT, payments, social impact investing, underbanked savings, and cyber security.
The arrival of an inhouse programme at the accelerator - the bank's third in London, and fourth globally - sets a new trend for bank-run innovation teams to experience the startup scene firsthand.
The three month programme culminates with a demo day on 18 April, where the 11 participants will be able to parade their solutions before the bank's senior management team and investors.