Hungary's OTP Group is inviting late-stage startups to apply for a Group-wide pilot programme aimed at finding fresh applications for long-term commercial deployment at the bank.
Opening its third season, the OTP Startup Partner Programme has been expanded beyond the bank's Hungarian headquarters to five subsidiary operations across Europe. With the aim of transforming as many of the startups as possible into long-term partners, the three-month pilot is also supplemented with a six-month 'rollout' period for top-performing cohort companies.
András Fischer, head of OTP Bank’s Retail Innovation Department, says: “Over the course of our previous two startup programmes, we examined nearly 500 startups for possible collaboration, and conducted pilot projects with 17 of them. Prior to announcing a new programme, we always strive to act upon the learnings of the previous batches, therefore this year, we are completing the 3-month pilot period with a 6-month rollout phase for a further boost towards long-term cooperation."
The deadline for applications is 22 November. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an online interview with the representatives of the relevant OTP business units, followed by a two-day 'Selection Camp' event in Budapest in January 2020.
The three-month pilot and mentoring period will last from early March until late May 2020, during which collaboration will take place mainly online. Representatives of the cohort companies will be invited to Hungary or to the offices of other participating subsidiary banks for a few days on a monthly basis to review pilot progress and participate at in-person workshops and mentoring sessions.
The pilot results will be presented by the startups at the Demo Day in late May to the management of the banking group, as well as to representatives of leading corporate partners and investors.