In February this year, Innotribe, SWIFT’s fintech accelerator announced startups that were to compete for its 2017 competitions at the Startup Challenge at the African Regional Conference (ARC) set to be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, from 16-18 May 2017.
Today, the accelerator has announced ten top startups which beat over 100 applications to be part of the third edition of the Startup Challenge in Africa. The applications came from 16 countries, with South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya dominating the list.
The startups were assessed on their potential to provide an important innovation to the future of the financial industry, and ultimately narrowed the selection process to this year’s 10 participating startups.
According to Fabian Vandenreydt, Global Head of Securities Markets, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute at SWIFT, “The Startup Challenge is an enriching experience for all participating companies. They benefit from expert mentoring and get that much needed exposure to financial institutions. We look forward to collaborating with another bunch of talented startups, and start this year’s journey in Abidjan!”
These successful companies all focus on providing innovative solutions for the financial industry in Africa. They will pitch their new products in Abidjan on 17 May, during SWIFT’s African Regional Conference (ARC). The event attracts up to 500 high-level delegates from more than 40 countries and is a unique platform for discussion, debate, and high-level networking for the African financial community. It also represents a great opportunity for the local startups to meet face to face with potential investors, partners and customers.
After the pitches, the audience will vote for the three best startups who will be invited to Sibos, SWIFT’s annual global financial services conference, taking place from 16-19 October in Toronto. The three finalists will have the opportunity to share the stage with FinTech experts, providing great insights on innovation happening in Africa to the financial industry at large. They will also receive a 10,000 USD cash prize each.
Last year,WeCashUp, HelloPaisa and The Sun Exchange emerged the winners and took home 10,000 USD cash prize each and invitations to attend Sibos, SWIFT’s annual global financial services conference.
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| Sokowatch | Sokowatch is a last-mile ordering and distribution network for small African shops. | Kenya |
| ThisIsMe | ThisIsMe brings trust into transactions through proprietary, true identification technology. | South Africa |
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