Accenture and a group of 10 leading financial institutions yesterday opened the application period for the second class of the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific, kicking off a competitive search for the top financial technology (fintech) innovators in the region.
The 12-week program helps early- and growth-stage financial technology innovators accelerate product development and gain exposure to top-level financial industry executives. Entrepreneurs developing potentially game-changing technologies for financial services – particularly in the areas of alternative currencies, Big Data and analytics, mobile and wireless payments, risk management and compliance, as well as social media and collaboration technologies – are invited to apply. Applications will be accepted through May 31.
Senior executives from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, China Construction Bank (Asia), China Citic Bank International, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Suisse, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, Maybank, Morgan Stanley and UBS will select the winners and provide them with intensive in-person mentoring in Hong Kong.
Global investment in fintech ventures tripled over the past year, from US$4.05 billion in 2013 to US$12.2 billion in 2014. During the same period, investments in Asia-Pacific fintech ventures have also more than tripled, from US$245 million in 2013 to US$767 million in 2014.
“Mainland China has leapfrogged the rest of the world with its adoption of digital innovations,” said Michael Leung, chief information and operations officer, China CITIC Bank International. “Some of the solutions that are available today were purely science fiction a decade ago. This is why we are eager to support fintech’s development in Hong Kong.”
