For the third time, Innotribe will provide unique networking opportunities with banks and VCs to selected FinTech startups during Swift’s African Regional conference (ARC), taking place 16-18 May 2017 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Brussels, 31 January 2017 – Swift Innotribe announces today that the Startup Challenge for Africa is open for applications. For the third year running, the Startup Challenge will be part of Swift’s African Regional Conference (ARC) held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 16-18 May 2017. ARC brings together policy makers, industry leaders and the broader financial community from across the African continent. Typically attracting up to 500 delegates from around 40 countries, ARC is a unique forum for networking, education, discussion and debate and a great platform for FinTech startups to connect with the financial sector.
Sido Bestani, Head of Middle East, Turkey and Africa, says: “FinTech companies are increasingly part of the fabric of Africa’s financial services industry. Now in its third year, Innotribe’s Startup Challenge for Africa plays an important role in finding the continent’s most exciting young companies, bringing them together with the financial sector and helping them grow.”
FinTech companies are increasingly part of the fabric of Africa’s financial services industry. Now in its third year, Innotribe’s Startup Challenge for Africa plays an important role in finding the continent’s most exciting young companies, bringing them together with the financial sector and helping them grow.
Are you an Africa-based startup and want to benefit from expert mentoring and in-depth industry feedback? Apply now to the Innotribe Startup Challenge!
From all applications received, Innotribe will select 10 startups to enter the Startup Challenge programme, showcase their products during ARC, and receive expert coaching and mentoring. Innotribe will closely work with industry experts, bank decision-makers, VCs and angel investors to select the showcase participants and their strong expertise will also serve to advise and coach the startups prior to the event.
During the showcase, the three best startups will be nominated by the audience as finalists, automatically securing their participation to Sibos, Swift’s annual global financial services conference, held in Toronto, Canada, from 16-19 October 2017. They will also receive a 10,000 EUR cash prize each.
Reflecting on the last three years, Fabian Vandenreydt, Global Head of Securities, Innotribe, and the Swift Institute at Swift, says: “Our partnership with ARC has allowed us to highlight Africa as a hotbed of FinTech activity with a lot of ideas, resources and talent to support. Through the Startup Challenge, we want to spotlight innovation playing a role in the future of the financial industry across the continent and provide an opportunity for young African companies to use Innotribe’s global network to help them maximise their huge potential.”
Applications to the 2017 Startup Challenge are now open until mid-March 2017.
The successful applicants will be announced in April 2017.
If you’re interested in applying to the programme, please read the Terms and Conditions to get all information you need and fill in the application form.
Note to editors
Launched by Innotribe (Swift’s innovation arm) in 2011, the Startup Challenge has become one of the leading global startup competitions, connecting the financial services industry with more than 650 FinTech startups around the world and reaching over 4,000 audience members through global showcases and networking events.
In 2016, Innotribe evolved its Startup Challenge to focus on emerging FinTech ecosystems. Moving from a global competition to a local programme, the Startup Challenge is now supporting innovation where demographic trends, economic growth and regional integration projects are creating fertile ground for new technologies to emerge.
For more information about Innotribe and its Startup Challenge competition, please visit: www.innotribe.com.
About Innotribe
Launched in 2009, Swift Innotribe is about innovation and connecting people, networks and ideas. We bring together global innovators and investors, strategists, and influential decision-makers from leading financial institutions across the globe, providing them early insights into innovations that could disrupt current business models and create new opportunities for new ones. Through the Startup Challenge competition, we bridge the gap between the startup ecosystem and the financial service community. For more information, please visit www.innotribe.com or follow us on Twitter: @innotribe and Linkedin: Innotribe.
About Swift
Swift is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 10,500 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. Swift enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. Swift also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest. For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: Swift.
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