Applications open today for the Global Fintech Hackcelerator programme, powered by KPMG in Singapore’s Digital Village and KPMG’s Matchi fintech matchmaking platform. Finals of the programme (“Demo Day’’) will be held at the Singapore Fintech Festival taking place from 12–16 November 2018.

Visit here to apply for the 2018 Global Fintech Hackcelerator – deadline for applications is 15 June 2018.

Start-ups from all over the world entering the Global Fintech Hackcelerator will demonstrate how they can innovate to address problem statements collected from the financial industry in areas including financial inclusion, insurtech and reg tech/sup tech.

Up to 20 start-ups will be shortlisted and matched with industry champions and business sponsors for mentoring and guidance, with 12 weeks to refine and tailor their market-ready solutions into customised use cases, in time for the Singapore Fintech Festival. KPMG in Singapore’s Digital Village as well as other subject-matter experts will help these start-ups in product development, proof-of-concept, commercialisation and even subsequent fundraising if needed. As these start-ups build relationships with a community of passionate game changers in the fintech eco-system though the hackcelerator, they will also benefit from Digital Village’s collaborative ecosystem comprising corporates, investors and government bodies to drive the adoption and integration of innovative solutions. The shortlisted start-ups will also each receive a cash stipend of up to SGD 20,000.

Shortlisted start-ups will pitch their solutions on the “Demo Day” of the Singapore Fintech Festival to a judging panel representing a cross-section of the financial industry. Solutions will be judged on their relevance to the problem statement, innovativeness, business potential, and the team’s ability to execute.

The top three start-ups that emerge from Demo Day will each receive additional cash prize of SGD $50,000.

The Singapore Fintech Festival, organised by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), is a platform for key stakeholders of the global and regional fintech community to connect, learn from one another and co-create new solutions to real problems. It is the largest fintech event and fintech platform in the world, attracting more than 30,000 participants, decision makers and investors from 109 countries in 2017.

Mr. Jan Reinmueller, Head of Digital Village, KPMG in Singapore says, “We are delighted to partner with the MAS for the second consecutive year to launch the Global Fintech Hackcelerator as one of the highlights of the Singapore Fintech Festival. The hackcelerator enables innovative start-ups to showcase their solution for significant fintech challenges in one of the top industry forums. It is also an opportunity for start-ups to tap into the global expertise of KPMG fintech professionals to super-charge their growth trajectory, and to use Singapore, a global fintech capital, as their launch pad to market-validate their ideas and gain market entry into Asia Pacific.”

Mr. David Milligan, CEO of Matchi – part of KPMG International adds, “KPMG in Singapore, through its Digital Village and KPMG’s global Matchi platform, will offer the selected start-ups a range of potential support that can include product development, proof-of-concept and commercialisation as well as potential fund raising after the competition. We are committed to help start-ups and financial institutions find and deploy fintech solutions that are most relevant to their business needs. This means helping to empower promising start-ups and enabling greater financial inclusion which ultimately benefits all consumers and businesses globally.”

Quotes from finalists of the Global Fintech Hackcelerator 2017

Balasubramanyam Mohan, General Manager of Products & Operations, Moxtra says, “We are honoured to be awarded as one of the winners in last year’s programme. Participating in the Global Fintech Hackcelerator has helped us build a foothold in Asia Pacific and establish greater credibility and brand recognition as an innovative fintech solutions provider to our prospective customers. The hackcelerator also helped us sharpen our value proposition and pitch in a very short period of time. It is definitely a great enabler to start-ups like us to fast-track our solution validation and market traction.”

Ian Chapman-Banks, CEO, Sqreem Technologies says, “Sqreem was excited to be a finalist at the Global Fintech Hackcelerator, and proud to be one of the winners. The mentorship from MAS, KPMG and the financial services industry was instrumental in Sqreem being able to productise our artificial intelligence platform in an accelerated fashion. Having so much expertise at hand allowed us to be very precise with our offering, increasing our chances of customer acquisition and revenue generation. Since participating in the programme, we have been signing on new clients and have now expanded our platform into Pharmatech, Adtech and the small and medium enterprise space.”

Ben Cronin, CEO of Kyckr says, “The Global Fintech Hackcelerator has been very positive for Kyckr. The support and planning facilitated by KPMG allowed us to prepare a pitch that resonated during the competition. This helped us establish a beach head in Asia that allowed us to target new customers and new sectors. We have since commenced a number of proof-of-concepts with customers that came directly from this excellent event.”