If you are a Fintech Startup, you can still apply to the Barclays accelerator 15-week program. Barclays Accelerator is powered by techstars and it will be directed by a Techstars team. The goal is to select 10 startups to come to London to accelerate their FinTech businesses. In order to participate you have to apply, and the applications deadline will be the 31st of March. Barclays accelerator is looking for startups that are tech-savvy, with cutting-edge concepts and that hold an innovative FinTech proposition that can promote a new era in financial services innovation, which can take banking into a new dimension. The teams must be capable of designing a solution and be ready to launch, by the end of the 15-week programme. Examples of the types of teams Barclays Accelerator is searching include:
- Payment solutions and applications
- Digital banking solutions
- Currency and money transfer products
- Wealth management and financial planning platforms
- Credit and loan products
- Security & authentication
- Securities trading platforms
Barclays mentions that the selected teams will take advantage of London, that is considered to be the most vibrant European capital of digital innovation and the perfect place for FinTech startups to get their businesses off the ground. The teams will work from an 11,000 sq ft beautifully designed workspace in Tech City. Barclays has teamed up with Central Working to create this space, that is an open office located in a stunning building dubbed ‘the Harrods of east London’. The space aims to be collaborative, creative, and playful. Other attractives will be a seed investment of $20,000 from Techstars, and mentorship from experts in the FinTech field. Throughout the current month of March various hosting events have already happened on the spot, related to the Barclays Accelerator. Barclays says that this programme will certainly give the companies selected unprecedented opportunities to accelerate fintech startups businesses. The benefits include:
- First access to Barclays Pingit APIs
- Dedicated support from the Barclays Pingit technology team
- Access to Barclays’ strategic investment team
- Introductions to relevant key decision makers within Barclays
- Insight on how to navigate the Barclays organisation as a service provider
- Mentoring by industry experts and Barclays CEOs across business divisions
- A demo day with your pitch streamed to Barclays offices worldwide
You can get all the information needed in the website of barclays accelerator.
Maria Fonseca is the Editor and Infographic Artist for IntelligentHQ. She is also a thought leader writing about social innovation, sharing economy, social business, and the commons. Aside her work for IntelligentHQ, Maria Fonseca is a visual artist and filmmaker that has exhibited widely in international events such as Manifesta 5, Sao Paulo Biennial, Photo Espana, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Joshibi University and many others. She concluded her PhD on essayistic filmmaking , taken at University of Westminster in London and is preparing her post doc that will explore the links between creativity and the sharing economy.
