BNP Paribas has opened an online portal to connect bank staff and business lines with innovative startups.
The Bank says OpenUp is designed to strengthen the bridges between the bank and the startup world.
Explaining the rationale, the Bank states: "Start-ups have often trouble identifying BNP Paribas employees potentially interested in a business cooperation and BNP Paribas has difficulty sourcing the start-ups able to address its business challenges."
The Bank claims that over 1000 people have already signed up to the platform, representing 480 inhouse employees and 580 from the startup community.
Startups can use the site to post ideas and get connected to the relevant business line managers for onward development. Bank staff likewise are encouraged to get more involved with the ecosystem by volunteering their expertise to startups in need of advice on various topics.
The site also includes a facility for BNP Paribas employees to post projects, with a dynamic matching that notifies all relevant parties when a match occurs. So far the site is playing host to 22 different projects posted by BNP Paribas business lines, with six projects in prototyping phase.