Fintech Matchmaking

Posted on: 09/04/2019

A chance to meet some of the largest financial corporations in an evening of facilitated speed networking. Applications are open until 14th May.

The Knowledge Transfer Network in partnership with Early Metrics is hosting an exclusive Fintech Matchmaking event on Thursday 13th June as part of London Tech Week. This session will offer innovative tech start-ups the opportunity to meet leading organisations and commercial partners in the financial sector to help them solve R&D challenges. Confirmed participants include Barclays, Fidelity International, HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Natwest Markets, UBS, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, Citi Group, ING UK and Deutsche Bank.

The event will take place from 17.30- 20.30 on Thursday 13th June at Level 39 in London. Up to 20 of the most innovative companies who submit applications will be invited to meet with established financial institutions for an evening of facilitated networking.

If you are an innovative startup or SME interested in attending please complete the application form by Tuesday 14th May here: bit.ly/MatchmakingApply. Please read the background detail below and answer the questions in full. Applicants will be selected based on their level of innovation and ability to solve the partners’ challenges.

Background

As stated in the PwC 2017 Global Fintech report, financial institutions expect an 82% increase in partnerships with fintech companies within the next three years, demonstrating a clear increase in appetite for collaboration.

Yet a major barrier for fintech startups and SMEs in collaborating with the leading financial institutions is the initial contact; finding the right person in a large organisation to talk to, showcase their solution and get instant feedback.

This matchmaking event will open doors to leading financial institutions and service providers, banks and asset managers to connect with talented digital innovators, within a ‘speed dating’ style format.

The session will showcase the use of:

  • Data analytics for personalisation of products and services
  • Artificial intelligence and robotics process automation
  • Regtech solutions to improve efficiencies and ease of compliance
  • Digital applications to unlock the Open Banking and PSD2 opportunities
  • Smart contracts to remove intermediaries and speed up transactions
  • Augmented and Virtual reality for data visualisation and virtual experience
  • Distributed ledger technologies for tokenisation of assets and financial inclusion

Confirmed participants and their respective challenge statements

Barclays Plc is looking for innovative solutions to personalise its retail and corporate offerings with a particular focus on personalised content for their B2B client base (e.g. insights for merchants). They are also interested in meeting businesses developing solutions to unlock Open Banking and PSD2 opportunities, specifically in the corporate space.

Fidelity International: Fidelity currently has great delivery capability within their company for AI initiatives; however, we lack the understanding of the art of the possible on what other technologies and capabilities can do for the firm. We are particularly interested in Data Analytics, AI  & Robotic process automation and seek to understand the ever-changing ecosystem to evaluate what are the possible solutions that Fidelity could see as a potential to help with better efficiency of time, effort and cost.

HSBC Bank Plc: HSBC has international and local customers each valuing the bank’s global insight and network and trusted presence in the local communities respectively. HSBC seeks to engage with solutions which can add more personalisation to customers and unlock open banking opportunities to continue to deliver digital tools for a diverse range of customers. At the moment, the UK Digital Bank is focused is on delivering mobile-centric solutions providing new fully digital and immersive experiences to users.

Lloyds Bank Plc: Within the financial services industry there is an emerging challenge around digital disruption from challenger banks and start-ups. The incumbent banks are looking to respond and change their digital propositions to allow for more targeted customisation – enhancing the user experience for commercial clients to be more aligned to the banking experience offered to retail customers. Lloyds Banking Group are therefore interested to see how they can best utilise the large volumes of data held internally and accessible through open banking, to offer advanced insights to their commercial clients.

NatWest Markets is the investment banking arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. It offers financing, risk management and trading services to help customers find the right solution for their needs. We’re looking for an innovative solution to extract value from the large amounts of unstructured data we hold. Artificial intelligence and self-learning algorithms are particularly interesting and any solution should be cloud and mobile based. We’re interested in both general solutions and ones targeted to specific areas in capital markets, such as intraday payments.

UBS Group AG: At UBS we are always looking for ways to continuously improve our current processes and systems specifically through our A.B.C.D.E strategy. These stand for AI & Automation, un-Bundling and Blockchain, Cloud and Connectivity, Data and Experience. How can your company help and enable UBS through the ABCDE’s to focus on key technological trends and stay competitive well into the future?

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence: BAE Systems Applied Intelligence is looking for real-world practical solutions that can help to tackle trade-based money laundering and terrorist financing. Specifically, we would like to see solutions that can help financial institutions, logistics & freight companies and government departments & agencies to capture, analyse and share structured information about the shipping, financing and payment of internationally-traded goods. The objective of analysing this information is to detect and/or mitigate ‘red flag’ patterns of trade that indicate criminal abuse of the trade system.

Citi Group: Citi’s markets infrastructure investments team- principal minority investments in traditional markets infrastructure as well as emerging technologies (with a varied portfolio including 30 DLT projects) is interested in identifying the best tech solutions we can deploy to determine what quality the data we are using/will use in our AI, DLT projects is. Data quality is of paramount importance and we want to ensure we’ve got the right filters in place to assess that quality.

ING UK: ING purpose is to empower people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. To deliver on that purpose ING Bank is continuously seeking new solutions, partnerships and ways to digitally transform the wholesale banking customer experience. We are interested in exploring the evolution of new technologies, across Distributed Ledger and Blockchain, AI, Robotics and Big Data & Analytics to understand how they can support both the business model for ING and how such technologies can create innovative opportunities through value chain optimisation for institutional customers across a variety of industries including property developers, investors, financial services and regulatory topics.

Deutsche Bank AG: Deutsche Bank is a global financial service provider, including investment banking and global markets solutions. The bank seeks to understand solutions in AI and Automation and smart legal contracting which can be integrated into existing systems to enhance parsing, monitoring and highlight unusual clauses.

Event format & how to apply

The event format has been designed to connect entrepreneurs with potential clients and collaborators through a series of rapid ‘speed dating’ style sessions, which may lead to successful commercial relationships. Digital innovator attendees will rotate around the room with strictly five minutes within which to have a one-to-one conversation or pitch to each industry representative. There will be refreshments throughout the evening with industry, academic experts and special guests joining the event.

If you are an innovative tech company and would like to be considered for this opportunity, please fill out our online application form by Tuesday 14th May: bit.ly/MatchmakingApply.

If you are an established brand and would like to attend as an industry partner, Astrid Ayel will advise on availability and potential opportunities for future involvement in speed networking events.

Key Dates

Opportunity opens: Tuesday 9th April

Closing date for applications: Tuesday 14th May

Successful applicants notified by Tuesday 21st May

Event: 5.30pm – 8.30pm Thursday 13th June

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