Fintech Lab, a Russian platform that aims to unite fintech players and startups, is launching its first acceleration program in Moscow.
The project has been initiated by major Russian and foreign banks such as AK BARS Bank, VTB24, Bank Saint Petersburg and Home Credit Bank in partnership with Mastercard. Accenture, which helped to launch fintech accelerators in London, New York and Hong Kong, has supported the project as a strategy consultant.
The advisory board of the accelerator will include representatives of Russia’s central bank and ministry of telecommunications as well as the recently created Russian Fintech association and relevant universities.
As part of a 12-week acceleration program, ten pre-selected teams will benefit from mentoring, lectures and workshops, as well as from visiting sessions to the banks which support the initiative. The program will kick off in May following a two-month selection process.
Another fintech accelerator was launched last year by Sberbank, the national savings bank, and the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian).
On its side Rosbank, a subsidiary of France’s Société Générale, will hold a hackathon on March 24-26. Startup entrepreneurs, programmers, designers and marketing professionals will create prototypes of new fintech products in just 48 hours with support from Rosbank’s business experts.
Meanwhile, a major industry conference, Fintech Russia, will be held in Moscow on March 31..
Sources: Fintech Lab, Bankir.ru, Rusbase
