Poland's mBank has set up a EUR50 million fintech investment fund and accelerator project to invest in startups in Central and Eastern Europe.
MBank says the fund will seek to root out startups offering services that could be nurtured through an accelerator and initially implemented by the bank for its five million customers in Poland. Once critical mass has been achieved, the bank will then assist the firms in its portfolio to market their products to other financial institutions.
The fund will be headed by Jarosław Mastalerz, currently one of the vice-presidents of mBank’s management board and the bank’s COO, and Wojciech Chmielewski, the director of mBank’s strategy department. They will leave mBank and take the helm of the new project.
Investment direction and approval for funding will be overseen by the bank's CEO, CFO and the heads of retail and corporate banking.
MBank CEO Cezary Stypułkowski, says: "The project is a great opportunity for mBank both in financial terms and from the point of view of our market position. It will help us strengthen our position as a company that is well-prepared for the challenges of the digital economy and is able to respond to the expectations of increasingly mobile customers, which is one of the key initiatives defined in our “mobile Bank” strategy for the period from 2016 to 2020."