What?
FinTech Village (www.fintech-village.com) is a dedicated FinTech accelerator that is being set up by ING in collaboration with partners (e.g. Deloitte, SWIFT, SmartFin, BelCube, IBM, etc.). FinTech Village targets startups that are close or at proof-of-concept stage.
How?
The application period runs until Dec. 6 and one can apply via the www.fintech-village.com page (links to www.f6s.com/fintechvillage).
There are 4 broad challenges and a wild card section:
- online or mobile solutions
- easy & secure banking
- efficient processes
- personalized CRM and customer empowerment
The actual programme starts in March 2016 and it is based on a 4-month programme during which startups get intense mentoring by senior bankers and will go through a design/shape/build/test/launch trajectory.
Why?
The programme is designed with a sole objective: lead to a proof-of-concept upon successful graduation and help start-ups build a stronger early stage sales pipeline. Its distinctiveness stems from:
- The strong support from a bank and the facilitated / accelerated access to senior bank leaders and other critical resources for startups (across the full ING group)
- The access to global networks thanks to partners (SWIFT Innotribe, Deloitte, etc.)
- The quality and breath of the pool of mentors, including serial FinTech entrepreneurs, investors , senior bankers, technologists
- The location in a rich Fintech ecosystem (less than 20 minutes away from SWIFT, MasterCard Europe, Euroclear, BNY Mellon securities services, Ogone, etc.); centrally located in Europe (less than 2 hours away from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam); and in a building that will host startups, more mature Fintech companies, investors and other FinTech stakeholders.
Partners
Deloitte and SWIFT Innotribe are core FinTech Village partners. They will play an important role in selecting the startups and providing access to several senior managers and content experts for mentorship and guidance.
Deloitte will provide regular coaching and advice to startups on matters such as innovation, security, growth hacking, etc. This advisory support will be delivered directly by senior resources, including Deloitte’s partners as well as leaders of relevant practices and excellence centres. Moreover, Deloitte will place its global network at the disposal of FinTech Village participants, whether it is to reach Deloitte globally or to help access external resources and contacts in the broader Deloitte network (e.g. clients).
SWIFT Innotribe will bring their unique expertise in the fields of payment and securities infrastructure, security and standards but also compliance and innovation. In addition, SWIFT Innotribe will put its global network at the disposal of FinTech Village participants.
Next to its core partners Finetch Village is supported by investor, technology and other partners.
SmartFin and Belcube are two financial investors specialised in fintech with leading serial entrepreneurs at their core. They will both join the FinTech Village to provide mentoring on startup development. It must be stressed that there is no string attached. Participants are entirely free to enter or not into funding transactions with our partners or any other investors. There is strictly no obligation on both sides.
Fintech-Village and ING have a partnership with Eggsplore – the Fintech hub association – where Fintech Village will be hosted.
Eligible Startups hosted in FinTech Village will also be admitted to the IBM Global Entrepreneur Program for Cloud Startups and receive IBM Cloud credits from IBM to launch, build, and scale their business on the IBM Cloud. Startups have access to IBM Softlayer and IBM Bluemix including a range of Services and API’s such as IBM Watson, Internet of Things, Analytics, Mobile and more.
Over time, we expect other partners to join and enrich the program. Likewise, partners may decide to end their partnership.
Mentors
FinTech Village startups will profit from the expertise of a dedicated lead sponsor assigned to each startup. For this we will select a senior leader of the bank that has a keen interest in the solution of your startup and is both enthusiastic as well as available to help guide you towards a successful PoC. The sponsor’s role is crucial. So if we cannot find a suitable mentor candidate, we will not select the startup, even if it is a great one.
To allow startups to fill any gaps in their expertise, we will map out a tailored support plan with a dedicated group of mentors from ING and its partners. Our mentors will provide tailored support in any domain they require from payments to compliance, IT security and more. You will also benefit from interactions with serial fintech entrepreneurs who have gone through the full cycle up to and including IPO/exit.
In addition to its already rich pool of mentors, FinTech Village has just enlisted seven additional high-profile mentors, from entrepreneurs to VCs, to offer their help and experience to FinTech Village startups: Professor of Entrepreneurship at Berkeley School of Business and venture capitalist, Jerome Engel Haas; Nexxworks founder and author of The New Normal, Peter Hinssen; Acquia founder and Drupal developer, Dries Buytaert; general partner at Accel, Fred Destin; Forgerock CEO, Mike Ellis; Mike Reiner from Amazon Web Services business development venture capital EMEA; and head of incubation and venturing at iMinds, Frank Gielen.
