April 25, 2018 @ 1:21 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Pan African bank Ecobank announced earlier this week it is seeking fintech solution startups to apply for its second annual Ecobank Fintech Challenge. According to the bank, more than 850 applied for the competition during its first challenge last year. Entrepreneurs, startups, and developers who are… Read More

April 5, 2018 @ 5:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Plug and Play announced on Thursday the 156 startups accepted into eight of its programs. These programs will run from April through June and include Energy & Sustainability, Enterprise 2.0, Health & Wellness, Insurtech, Internet of Things, Mobility, Real Estate, and Travel & Hospitality. The organization… Read More

March 2, 2018 @ 10:15 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

  On Thursday, Plug and Play announced it welcomed 111 startups into six of its accelerator programs. The programs will notably run from March through May and include Brand & Retail, Cybersecurity, Fintech, Food & Beverage, New Materials & Packaging, and Supply Chain & Logistics Plug and… Read More

February 9, 2018 @ 12:00 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Magma Partners, an early stage venture capital firm with offices in the U.S. and Latin America, announced earlier this week the first close of its second $15M fund to continue supporting the growth of U.S. incorporated startups with technology and sales teams based in Latin… Read More

January 9, 2018 @ 11:47 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, IBM and Comcast Ventures announced they have backed new blockchain startup fund, MState. Founded in 2017, MState is described as a growth lab for enterprise blockchain companies with locations in New York City and San Francisco. It will run a six-month program straiten gin… Read More

January 5, 2018 @ 8:48 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube announced it has formed a partnership with L Marks to offer co-funding opportunities to the company’s network of 130 startups. L Marks is described as innovation specialists and early-stage investors, who work with the likes of John Lewis, Bupa,… Read More

January 4, 2018 @ 8:03 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Virgin Startup has teamed up with TribeFirst to launched Crowdboost, a new equity crowdfunding accelerator program for startups looking to scale. Its description reads: “CrowdBoost has been developed for ambitious entrepreneurs who are looking to leverage the power of the crowd to raise funds, raise awareness and… Read More

November 6, 2017 @ 3:50 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Funderbeam, a Blockchain-powered platform for cross-border startup funding with an extensive information database, a primary market for fundraising and a secondary market for equity and debt trading, recently announced that early-stage startups have raised €5 million through investors from close to 100 countries through its blockchain-powered platform…. Read More

October 10, 2017 @ 3:54 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced on Tuesday it has formed a partnership with the Desjardins Group to launch a new fintech investment fund. The creation of this fund was announced during the Canada FinTech Forum According to the Canadian companies, the funds… Read More

September 26, 2017 @ 8:32 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Monday, Lend360 announced it has teamed up with LendingTree to launch Startup Innovators Program, an on-site competition where fintech startups will present cutting-edge solutions that are propelling the online lending ecosystem forward. Winners of this new competition will receive $10,000. Lend360 revealed that startups in… Read More

August 10, 2017 @ 9:16 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

SparkLabs, a network of accelerators in Asia, announced earlier this week it is launching in Taipei after recently making its debut in Beijing. According to the network, the first accelerator was launched in Seoul in 2012 with 79% of its 74 graduates receiving follow on… Read More

July 21, 2017 @ 9:29 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, Luke Lang sat down with his Crowdcube co-founder, Darren Westlake, to discuss start-up challenges and the entrepreneur lifestyle. The interview’s description reads: “Listen to Luke’s perspective about the challenges of starting a business in a new sector, in the tail end of a… Read More

June 11, 2017 @ 9:05 am By Cole Lyons  |  

Kasikorn Bank has opened up a $30 million fund to invest in to Fintech startups, thus exemplifying the banks attitude to embrace disruptive technologies. The rapid technological developments within the financial industry has opened up new dimensions in the market, changing how customers think. People… Read More

May 4, 2017 @ 1:36 am By Cole Lyons  |  

New York University Abu Dhabi and the United Arab Emirates Exchange signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the attempt to promote both the advancement of innovation of financial technologies. The two have agreed to accomplish this through the innovation and entrepreneurship platform, startAD. startAD is based… Read More

March 23, 2017 @ 9:20 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Global innovation platform Plug and Play announced on Thursday its largest cohort to date. It is now running nine of their programs simultaneously with 175 startups being dispersed across the following innovation platforms: Brand & Retail, Fintech, Food & Beverage, Health & Wellness, Insurtech, Internet of… Read More

March 1, 2017 @ 11:27 am By Samantha Hurst  |  

Global fintech firm InvestCloud announced on Wednesday the launch of its innovation center for financial startups and institutions, which is located at its Pacific Design Center headquarters in Los Angeles. According to InvestCloud, the center will now enable teams from banks, wealth managers, and other financial services… Read More

February 13, 2017 @ 10:50 pm By Jessica Pham  |  

Crowdfund Insider interviewed Jake Fisher to discuss his new startup, Crowdfund Research, which launched earlier this month. What can you find on their page? “Our mission is to provide crowdfunding investors with the same level of research a VC fund would perform. We do this by… Read More

February 3, 2017 @ 11:58 pm By Jessica Pham  |  

In a follow-up to Australia’s National Fintech Cyber Security Summit in May 2016, Data61 published a new report called “Startup Secrets: How Australia Can Create New Businesses with Fintech and Cyber Security Industry Collaboration”.  The report highlights how the government and private sector can invest… Read More

January 20, 2017 @ 3:52 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Thursday, Crowdcube announced it formed a partnership with UK’s customer acquisition media agency, All Response Media, to support competition for startups, TV Star.  According to Crowdcube, the two winners of the contest will receive a fully funded media and creative TV advertising campaign, which… Read More

January 19, 2017 @ 1:13 am By Jessica Pham  |  

Reports came out during the holiday season last year of banks quietly stocking up on blockchain patents.  Banks will compete with startups making the same moves.  They will also compete for patents with trolls who suppress innovation. The future of blockchain innovation depends on who… Read More