Contego selection into Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Lab

London, January 6, 2016: Contego are among 15 financial technology (fintech) startups selected to participate in Accenture’s 2016 FinTech Innovation Lab London.

The London Lab, launched by Accenture in 2012 and now in its fourth year, is a collaboration between Accenture and 16 leading financial institutions. The 12-week mentoring program helps fintech entrepreneurs accelerate product development while giving the participating banks exposure to the technologies they need to stay ahead. Accenture will return to Canary Wharf’s Level39 to host the FinTech Innovation Lab for the fourth consecutive year. Level39 continues to be a leading hub for fintech innovation, providing access to a curated fintech ecosystem and proximity to many of the participating financial institutions.

Contego is amongst the 15 selected startups will be partnered with senior-level bank executives who will help them fine-tune and develop their technologies and business strategies. Six of these startups will ultimately be selected to present at an Investor Day in April 2016 in front of venture capitalists and senior financial-industry executives.

Those taking part in this year’s program are: AimBrain, Albert, AlgoDynamix, Clausematch, Contego, Crowdaura, Cutover, PassFort, PayKey, Quotip, SBDA Group, Talent Rank, Undo, Voleo, and ZeroDB. Their innovations include blockchain technology for securities issuance, cognitive computing and real-time risk detection.

“The disruption of financial services by FinTech entrepreneurs continues at speed” said Richard Lumb, group chief executive of Financial Services at Accenture. “We’re incredibly excited about working with this year’s entrepreneurs to make banking better, cheaper and faster. They offer some exciting innovations and have demonstrated exceptional creativity in what has been a record breaking year for applications from more than 30 countries, confirming that London is very much the centre of Europe’s thriving FinTech community.”

Support for the program is industry-wide, with the senior teams involved drawn from the world’s most recognizable financial institutions, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Intesa Sanpaolo, JPMorgan, Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, RBS, Santander, Societe Generale and UBS.

Stuart Gulliver, group chief executive of HSBC Holdings plc, said: “HSBC is already working with firms from last year’s programme and we are pleased to be supporting the Innovation Lab again. Matching our experience with the creativity of the selected entrepreneurs is a proven way of developing technologies that bring real benefits to customers.”

“Adopting disruptive technology is a priority for the banking sector and collaborating with startups through initiatives such as the Fintech Innovation Labs is an important part of this process for Deutsche Bank. Better and faster platforms can drive productivity and enhance the customer experience,” commented Kim Hammonds, chief operating officer and chief information officer, Deutsche Bank.

The FinTech Innovation Lab London is modelled on a similar program that was co-founded by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City, the US$115 million investment arm of the Partnership for New York City. Accenture launched two other Labs in 2014: the FinTech Innovation Lab Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong and the FinTech Innovation Lab Dublin in Ireland. Globally, the Labs’ alumni companies have raised more than US$260 million in venture financing after participating in the program. Four participants from the New York FinTech Innovation Lab have been acquired, two in 2015 alone, including Standard Treasury and BillGuard. The 21 companies that have passed through the London program have signed more than 50 contracts to do business with banks and on average have increased revenues by 170 percent since participating in the Lab.

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.