On Friday, Kiwibank announced the launch of its new fintech accelerator in New Zealand. The company stated the 3-month program will initially fund and support eight Kiwi fintech startups and will be powered by startup accelerator brand, Lightning Lab.
Kiwibank stated:
“Teams will work directly with Kiwibank, Xero and other financial industry partners. They’ll practice market validation and product development approaches used by companies like Google, IDEO, and Tesla. At the end of the three months, each team will have the opportunity to pitch for investment at Demo Day, in front of New Zealand’s top angel investors and early stage venture funds.”
Sharing more details about the new accelerator, Kiwibank chief executive, Paul Brock, reportedly revealed:
“Because we’re a major bank uniquely focused on the New Zealand market, it’s important to us that New Zealand has a strong, local fintech community, ensuring our financial services sector continues to evolve and grow. For Kiwibank, supporting a fintech accelerator will help drive our own internal innovation agenda, both with Kiwibank teams taking part, and also the chance for our culture to be influenced by what our people see in the accelerator programme.”
The company added that the accelerator is a full-time, in-residence, fast-paced and time constraint business growth program. Applications are currently open and will close on December 2nd with the selection day scheduled for December 14th. Bootcamp for the eight startups will begin on February 1st and the program begins on February 7th. Demo Day will take place on May 18th.