BVNK selected for Batch V of Swiss Fintech Accelerator F10
We were accepted into the fifth batch of the F10 Fintech Accelerator in Switzerland, with about 16 startups out of thousands of applications. F10 is a pretty big deal: it’s been ranked amongst the top ten European Incubator and Accelerators multiple times, and accepts Startups dealing with FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech.
We are participating in the “Prototype to Product” traunch which comprises six masterclasses (over as many months) where we work closely with established Swiss Financial Institutions like Six, Julius Bär, Zurich Kantanolbank, Raiffeisen, and Postfinance, large corporates like PwC and a host of influential mentors from various firms. The programme is designed to leverage the expertise and know-how of the various partners to get a startup to a point where they have a pilot with a potential client (usually one of the partners) and are in a position where they are attractive to investors.
For us, this could not have come at a better time. We are in the throws of multiple commercial discussions, some of which have asked for “proof of value” — a pilot or similar — before they engage further, we partnered with an African focused consultancy to complement our system (and our team) so we can go after larger banks, and our system is ready to support Fintechs and challenger banks. Essentially, we are geared for the next phase of growth, and F10 is bound to accelerate it. We have done the hard yards too, over the last year we have built up a pipeline of leads and relationships with banks in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Africa to activate when the time came. And the time has come.
During which, one of the biggest barriers we have faced is we are new; although we have a world class team, and cutting edge technology, our product has recently finished being developed and is yet to be used in production. This creates an interesting dichotomy for banks: do they take a risk on a new product and way of thinking to be ahead of the curve, or do they wait for a competitor to test the waters.
As one would expect, even though the bigger banks may have more resources to handle risk, they also have more risk to manage. And while the excitement around our product is unanimous, so is the inevitable question: “Who are you in production with?” The classic chicken and egg problem faced by countless startups in the enterprise space.
F10 solves this keystone challenge for us. We have an opportunity (and access) to financial institutions that are not only open to pilots and POCs, but actively looking for them. And it just so happens that they are some of the most well-known names in Switzerland with three of the top five banks directly involved. In addition, during the selection process, we were explicitly backed by one of them with the rest expressing interest to engage further.
The programme is geared to getting us our first client, presumably with one of the banks involved, and which will unlock some of the other opportunities we have in our pipeline. Our current investors are very excited about the prospect and all this can only help attract deeper interest for our latest fundraising round. If you’re interested in participating, get in touch here.
We are ready to grow, and are now in a position to do so.
