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Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai just announced the ten startups selected for their second cohort. The accelerator program launched its first cohort in 2018 and it is backed by UAE's FinTech leaders, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), HSBC, Visa and Mashreq Bank.
After four months of rigorous recruitment period, and more than 450 applications received, 10 startups were selected to join Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai's second cohort. The new cohort features startups from the UAE, Singapore, USA, India, Finland, Egypt, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Kazakhstan, and Lebanon.
"We are very proud of the success of our first cohort and excited to announce that for our second cohort, we attracted some of the world's most prominent FinTech startups in the fields of payments, lending, Islamic digital banking, employer gratuity management and others” said Khaled Lababidi, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai. "The 10 teams will go through an intensive three-month acceleration program, in the heart of the DIFC and will work with top-notch mentors and corporate partners to secure proof-of-concepts to validate their business models."
The 10 selected for the 2020 cohort are:
- Coil Pay (USA): a bank-issued smartwatch designed for payments at zero cost to the end consumer.
- Datacultr (India): a platform-as-a-service that reduces credit risk for lending companies on 'New to Credit' customers by converting their smartphones into a virtual collateral
- DD-Ready (Finland): an intelligent data management platform built specifically for the due diligence process.
- ePension (UAE): a cloud-based platform that helps SMEs design, implement and report their employee’s end of service gratuity plans.
- Fawaterak (Egypt): an online invoicing and payment platform between merchants and clients which integrates local and global payment networks.
- Lending Star (Singapore): marketplace connecting SMEs and investors to enable supply-chain financing
- Marta (Uzbekistan): a platform-as-a-service that makes it possible to accept non-cash payments via mPoS and tap-on-phone where there is a lack of internet connectivity
- SnapSlip (South Africa): digital receipts and analytics applications.
- Tayyab (Kazakhstan): an Islamic digital bank that makes everyday money management easy in a shariah-compliant way.
- Trade Quant (Lebanon): an equity investment portfolio management application that manages your investments using a Quantitative Investment Model (QIM) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The startups will now participate in the three-month extensive FinTech program starting in January 2020 and culminating with Demo Day, where they will pitch their projects to the region's top investors for an opportunity to raise funds and sign pilot collaboration projects.
Corporate partners play a pivotal role in the Startupbootcamp FinTech program, and they have all shown their excitement and support for the new cohort.
Dubai International Financial Center DIFC
Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer, DIFC Authority said: “As part of our focus on developing new and innovative FinTech start-ups from the DIFC, our continued partnership with Startupbootcamp builds on the successes of its first cohort which has already delivered great results. The future of finance is firmly in our sights and we are doing everything to provide a solid growth platform for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and venture capital firms. By benefitting from our international expertise and world-class technological infrastructure, we look forward to witnessing the great achievements of the second cohort, reflecting the importance we place on advancing our finance technology ecosystem.”
HSBC
Ghinwa Baradhi, MENAT CIO, HSBC, said: “The UAE has established itself as a global FinTech hub and as a bank helping shape the future of finance, HSBC is excited to be working with such a diverse, talented and ambitious group of entrepreneurs in the Startupbootcamp program.”
Visa
Otto Williams, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Fintech, and Ventures at Visa for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Visa is delighted to continue this association which is supporting the UAE’s evolution into a global Fintech hub. We are excited about mentoring and working with this next wave of global start-ups joining the Startupbootcamp FinTech Dubai Accelerator, and nurture them in growing the payment innovations that consumers and ecosystem partners can hope to see in the future.”
Mashreq Bank
Subroto Som, Executive Vice President – Group Head of Retail Banking Group, Mashreq Bank said “In the past few years, the financial industry has witnessed significant digital disruption driven by a greater level of innovation which has benefitted everyone in the industry. The UAE has exhibited a strong willingness to develop a Fintech eco-system in the country and the success of the first cohort of Startupbootcamp is very much aligned with this concept. At Mashreq we are proud to be a part of this journey. We believe that the second cohort has some innovative FinTech startups and Mashreq will continue to play a leading role to encourage and support these companies, with the final goal of deploying these innovative solutions to improve the overall customer banking experience.”
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