FinTech Innovation Lab New York Now Accepting Applicants for 2020 Class

Founded by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City, Program That Supports NYC as a Fintech Center Is in Its 10th Year

Applications are now being accepted for the FinTech Innovation Lab New York, a 12-week program co-founded by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City that helps early- and growth-stage fintech companies accelerate product and business development through in-depth collaboration with top financial services and venture capital firms.

The FinTech Innovation Lab is designed for entrepreneurs developing disruptive enterprise technologies for the financial services industry, including the banking, insurance and asset management sectors. Now in its 10^th year, the Lab has helped established New York City as a fintech hub for enterprise technology innovation.

Based on feedback from senior executives at participating financial institutions, this year’s Lab is seeking companies leveraging innovative technologies — including artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, mobile and robotic process automation — and building end-to-end solutions around five major areas:

• Cloud: Including cloud management, migration and security;
• Data: Alternative data sources to improve underwriting analytics, as well as tools for data management, governance, privacy and visualization;
• Digitization: Automating and scaling internal processes to drive operational and engineering efficiencies;
• Engagement: Tools focused on clients, employees or agents, including for customer acquisition and experience, product customization, predictive analytics and talent development; and
• Security: Solutions focused on cyber, risk and identity management, and fraud.

“When we established the FinTech Innovation Lab 10 years ago, few financial institutions were sourcing technology in New York. Now there is a rich ecosystem of fintech entrepreneurs, venture dollars and corporate engagement here that has enabled fintechs to scale and create jobs locally. New York is now a leading center of fintech — particularly for enterprise solutions,” said Maria Gotsch, co-founder of the FinTech Innovation Lab and president and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City.

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Through a competitive process, a mix of fintech and insurtech chief technology officers and senior technology executives from the 43 participating financial institutions will select companies to participate in the 2020 Lab, which begins in April 2020. In recent years, financial institutions have favored more-mature companies, with average capital raised for the 2019 Lab companies exceeding $13 million.

Applicants must have at least a working beta version of their technology that is ready to be tested for either the institutional or retail market. The Lab will partner the selected fintech entrepreneurs with senior-level bank, insurance and wealth management executives, who will help them develop and refine their technologies and business strategies through a series of one-on-one meetings, panel discussions, user-group sessions and networking opportunities.

The Lab culminates in June 2020 with Demo Day, where participants will present to an audience of venture capitalists and financial industry executives at an event hosted at the Bank of America Tower at Bryant Park.

“The evolution of artificial intelligence, blockchain and extended reality capabilities is bringing a new wave of enterprise transformation — helping financial institutions harness new data sources to improve the customer experience, digitize and refine their operations to create new efficiencies, and engage customers with more personalized and differentiated offerings,” said David Treat, a managing director in the Financial Services practice of Accenture, which co-founded the Lab. “It often takes a team approach to capitalize on these technologies, and we anticipate an exciting round of fintech and insurtech innovations for this year’s class as well as continued industry collaboration.”

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“We have increasingly seen international companies participate in the Lab as a way to enter the U.S. market and build partnerships with New York financial institutions. In addition, post-Series A and B companies have found the Lab to be a helpful platform for collaborating with banks & insurance companies and receiving feedback on new use cases to accelerate business development efforts and ultimately product adoption,” said Sunny Parikh, director of the FinTech Innovation Lab New York.

“New York City offers an unparalleled mix of talent, customers, and capital across retail, commercial, and institutional markets.  FinTech Collective is pleased to support the FinTech Innovation Lab bringing 20 years of fintech experience as entrepreneurs and investors, from formation to IPO and exit,” said Brooks Gibbins, managing partner of NYC-based venture capital firm, FinTech Collective.

“Even for an entrepreneur going on to found their second or third startup, relationships established as part of the FinTech Innovation Lab generate real value. Getting selected for the program boosted the credibility of our work and many of the executives and mentors we met continue to champion our company even after graduating,” said Jordan Brandt, co-founder and CEO of Inpher.

“Zurich joins Accenture and the Partnership Fund in encouraging innovative tech entrepreneurs to get involved in the 2020 FinTech Innovation Lab New York,” said Paul Horgan, head of U.S. Commercial Insurance for Zurich North America. “This is an opportunity for them to work with the financial services industry — including the banking, insurance and asset management sectors — in the development of innovative products and services that can meet the needs of businesses now and in the future.”

“As a London-based company with strong market presence in the U.K., breaking into the U.S. was critical for our continued growth,” said Ky Nichol, CEO of Cutover. “The Lab helped us make the meaningful connections we needed to grow here and now we are scaling and hiring people in New York.”

“The 2014 FinTech Innovation Lab gave us unparalleled access to the inner workings of leading global financial institutions,” said Hicham Oudghiri, CEO and co-founder of Enigma. “This experience taught us not only how to navigate, but how to understand and engage with these institutions to build products that can impact the industry at scale.”

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