Australia's Westpac Bank has selected the finalists for the latest round of its innovation competition. Who are the chosen five?
Westpac announced the five finalists for its 2017 Innovation Challenge, an initiative for entrepreneurs and start-ups across the country to present innovative new solutions for Australia's Professional Services sector.
Westpac's National Head of Professional Services, Makala Schofield, believes this year's event is uncovering innovations that could help drive Australia’s future.
Cash and Incubation
Now in its fourth year, the challenge has previously uncovered entrepreneurs with innovations for the healthcare, agribusiness and property sectors.
The finalists will each participate in a live pitch to a panel of business experts who will decide the winner at an event on Thursday, 7 September 2017.
The winner will receive a $40,000 cash prize and the opportunity to work with Westpac’s incubator team to help take the winning idea to the next level.
The Chosen Five
Nod: digital platform where people get advice about money from a financial expert on-demand. The platform is aimed at financial professionals and includes an artificial intelligence solution that automates a client fact-finding process and produces Statement of Advice documents.
BenchOn: business-to-business supplier sourcing platform for the Professional Services sector. BenchOn creates a new talent pool of professionals by matching business’ idle staff, who are perhaps in between projects, to short-term contracts with reputable companies and government agencies.
Checkbox: a no-code platform that enables the digital transformation of regulation into software using a drag-and-drop interface. Checkbox allows people to build software without a developer, so users are able to quickly prototype, deploy, and react to regulatory changes in a faster and more cost-effective way.
Blenktech: cloud-based software service revolutionising high-volume contract negotiation on behalf of big businesses. Blenktech accelerates agreement between parties, improves outcomes, reduces costs and mitigates risks.
Trust Investment Platform: platform that supports the administrative and legal set up, investment decision making and execution, as well as the ongoing management of trust accounts for beneficiaries. The service aims to address and disrupt the $10bn in legal trust accounts earning no interest for the rightful owner.
