Startupbootcamp is the latest accelerator to tap into the buzz around New York fintech.
The global accelerator program has launched Startupbootcamp FinTech, which will begin in March 2016.
Ten startups will be chosen to take part in the three month program, which follows the standard accelerator model. They’ll each get $20,000 in cash per team, partner services valued at nearly half a million dollars, and three months of free office space in New York City, with the option to stay for an extra month after the program. Companies will also receive mentoring from a network of more than 400 entrepreneurs, investors and partners. The price of entry is six percent equity.
Mastercard, Rabobank, Thomson Reuters and Santander are all partners in the program and will provide expertise and advice. Each team will have an “executive-in-residence” from one of the sponsors who will work closely with the startups.
Jesse Podell, cofounder of TechDay, one of the biggest startup events of the year in New York, will head the program as managing director. Podell previously ran the NY fintech meetup group.
It’s the third fintech accelerator program in the city, joining Techstars Barclays NYC and the NY Fintech Innovation Lab, but Podell said it’ll be different.
“We’re going to bring a lot of different elements of the fintech community together here," he said. “This is born from the fintech ecosystem, rather that putting personnel in the program. It’s all about the people.”
Podell also wants to engage regulators in the process, to educate them about how startups are run.
“Finance is the most regulated industry in the world yet nobody is having conversations with regulators and compliance," he said. “I think we have a great opportunity to do that.”
Though relatively unheralded in the U.S., Startupbootcamp is the largest accelerator program in Europe. Founded by Alex Farcet in Copenhagen in 2010, it's now headquartered in London and has seven other programs throughout the continent.
Applications are expected from entrepreneurs all over the world in a range of disciplines. In London and Singapore roughly a quarter of all the member startups are doing something with blockchain or bitcoin cryptocurrencies and Podell expects a similar pattern in New York.
“I need companies that are commercially viable, that are interesting to me, and also to my partners," he said. “We also need entrepreneurs that can build a team, with a validated product, something more than just an idea."
The deadline for applications for the New York program is February 1.
