Wells Fargo announced on Monday four early-stage fintech companies, Edquity, Hurdlr, Redrock Biometrics, and SimSpace, are the latest startups to join the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator. The banking giant revealed that it started the non-exclusive, six-month program a little over three years ago to join startups in exploring emerging technologies in analytics, cybersecurity, payments, artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and other areas in pursuit of breakthroughs for financial services.
The Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator is described as a hands-on program designed to advance startups that create solutions for enterprise customers – inside and outside the financial industry. The program accepts applications twice each year and selected companies are eligible to receive funding, along with guidance from Wells Fargo business and technology leaders in refining the launch of their ideas. Speaking about the program, Steve Ellis, head of the Wells Fargo Innovation Group, stated:
“Since the dawn of the internet as a commercial channel, Wells Fargo and fintech firms have been working together to create innovative digital experiences for consumers and businesses. This program plays an increasingly integral part in helping us explore and implement breakthrough ideas to build a better bank.”
Raj Bhaskar, CEO of Hurdlr, revealed:
“By joining the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, we’ll be testing multiple business cases, looking to provide strategic insights via our API. We look forward to further demonstrating how Hurdlr’s Profit & Tax Engine might be leveraged by financial institutions and others for the benefit of their customers.”
William Hutchison, CEO and cofounder of SimSpace, added:
“Our relationship with the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator significantly enhances our efforts to both radically improve the cybersecurity landscape and to become the trusted source for cybersecurity testing and risk assessments. The program allows us to further refine our state-of-the-art, cyber range capabilities to provide software-based, quantitative insights into how a company can protect its critical assets against an advanced cyber threat.”
To date, the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator has received nearly 1,600 applications from innovative companies in more than 50 countries. The newest entrants bring the total number to 17 startups that have joined the accelerator, with more to be announced soon. The program is accepting applications from new accelerator candidates through December 6th.