"Through the startup challenge, we aim to highlight innovation for the benefits of SWIFT and its members. We try to give early insight on innovations that could either improve or possibly disrupt existing business models or bring new opportunities," commented Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Markets Management, Innotribe and SWIFT Institute on the event.
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| Source: Innotribe. Vandenreydt. |
This year’s startup challenge focuses on building bridges between the fintech ecosystem and the broader financial community, which is Innotribe's charter. "One way to achieve this is we bring in industry experts to talk to the audiences about what problems the industry is facing, and the opportunities this can present. Through this we aim to position Innotribe as a place for the financial community to identify problems and find solutions.
"We have also lined up keynotes to address key industry challenges, such as the supply chain, the future of money and compliance. For the startup companies, Innotribe is an ideal place to find real problems facing the industry, so that they can bring solutions to a problem, rather than turning up with a solution before looking for a problem," Vandenreydt said.
Vandenreydt also noted that general interest for the challenge has risen. "This year’s challenge is the biggest event we have ever seen, with over 280 applications from all over the world, representing a 60% increase compared to 2013. In 2014, we have seen over 20% of all applications coming from Asia Pacific. If I compare this to 2013, where we had 173 applications and 18% of these came from Asia Pacific, it shows that there is a strong, consistent and continued interest from Asia Pacific," he said.
As a global challenge, the Innotribe Startup Challenge has three regional showcases, in Europe, Asia and the US. Vandenreydt shared that Singapore has been chosen as the venue for the Asian showcase because of its thriving ecosystem for startups.
"When looking for a location, we chose Singapore as it is one of the hubs for startups in Asia. With a strong government backing, through the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), Singapore is well positioned to becoming a focal point of innovation in Asia, paving a path for young entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities in this region and develop startups into global brands," he said.
Vandenreydt said that a company need only spare two hours in order to enter the Innotribe Startup Challenge, for which it gets much more in returns. "With the effort, they will have the opportunity to put their idea in front of 10 top industry experts as part of the initial judging, who will score the teams, but also provide valuable feedback. If the startups make it through to one of our regional showcases, they will receive significant publicity through our communications channels and also be included in our press releases which will be picked up by the media across different regions.
Semi-finalists will need to invest two days of time. "At this stage, they will be put through a rigorous coaching process, which will help the companies pitch to the audience. The feedback we received from these coaching sessions for the startups and growth stage companies is very positive: they all feel it prepares them to pitch to our audience, but also useful for pitching to investors or customers. So while the investment is somewhere from two hours to two days, or even more if they reach the final, participation in this programme offers a significant return on investment for the future of a company," Vandenreydt noted.
Read more about the regional showcase here. The semi-finalists are listed here.
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