The Swift Innotribe 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 forum for networking, education, discussion and debate and a great platform for FinTech startups to connect with the financial sector.
Sido Bestani, head of Swift in 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.”
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 at Innotribe, and the Swift Institute, 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.
