A fresh look at banking innovation
UKRSIBBANK and Radar Tech are launching an acceleration programme for startups around banking. We at Civitta Ukraine helped them redefine the innovation priorities and are excited about this unprecedented programme. Here is why.
First of all, let me say that the team we worked with at the bank is really enthusiastic and open about engaging with startups. They honestly believe startups could bring business value and solve problems they cannot due to inefficiencies or a simple lack of time. Not to mention the eagerness to get a sense for the startup culture and entrepreneurial ways of working.
Now, let’s see why Popcorp (the accelerator’s brand) is so groundbreaking.
Ukraine is already quite advance
While most banking systems are 30+ years old, Ukraine as a state is younger than that. Which means we did not get to experience a large part of the legacy banking, thus became building the system from a different technological level.
Moreover, the largest Ukrainian bank of the past 15 years — PrivatBank — was one of the most technologically advanced and customer-centric banks in Europe with an online-first and one-stop-shop-for-finance mentality. I experience many banking systems — Ukrainian is the fastest and the easiest I have used (if there were no Revolut or N26 nowadays, of course).
Bank beyond banking
UKRSIBBANK wants to have a unique scope. Because the strategic programmes of BNP Paribas touch all aspects of the bank — from products to employees — the bank looks at its organisation holistically. Startup engagement is no exception. The 5 focus areas of Popcorp include products, channels, banking backend, workplace, and frontier tech.
I doubt any other accelerator or any other bank has such a holistic approach to innovating itself through startups. And am absolutely excited to see how the cooperation with startups plays out for the teams looking at simplification and making the bank a good place to work.
Enormous international exposure
Finally, let me remind you that UKRSIBBANK is a part of BNP Paribas — a global banking group present on multiple continents. Which means, colleagues from all BNP Paribas offices may pay attention to startups that fall within their innovation scope.
On top of that, BNP Paribas has a broad startup ecosystem footprint: from own venture arms to cooperating with Plug and Play and partnering with dozens of startups. Which is an enormous opportunity for Ukrainian startups: nobody else offers such a close contacts to world class leaders like Plug and Play.
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So, if you are a fintech startup or working on ways to make organisations simpler and better a place to work — I encourage you to apply for the programme. Looking forward to seeing this programme grow!
