Barclays Signs Contracts with Six Companies from New York Accelerator Program

After thirteen weeks of intensive product development, mentoring and networking, 10 companies will today showcase their innovative FinTech propositions at a demo day in New York, marking the culmination of the second New York class of the Barclays Accelerator. The 10 teams were selected from a pool of nearly 800 applicants, making this the most competitive Barclays Accelerator program to date.

“This second New York class of the Barclays Accelerator program has been an outstanding success,” said Michael Harte, Group Head of Innovation. “Our partnership with Techstars uniquely enables our network and partners to foster entrepreneurship inside and outside Barclays, and across our customers and clients. Our program together opens doors to mentorship and business development, and enables us to all learn, grow and create value together.”

An audience of more than 500 industry leaders, entrepreneurs, senior executives and corporate partners will attend the event to hear from the 10 companies. Each of the companies will present their propositions on how they are shaping the future of financial services, and will outline the progress they have made over the 13 weeks since the start of the program.

The companies from this Barclays Accelerator have engaged with a variety of Barclays’ businesses to investigate the implementation of new technologies:

Alpha Exchange is working with Barclays Research to create a pioneering research platform, with the startup building an innovative open network that brings together the collective intelligence of the capital markets community
Windrush is working with Barclays Research on the implementation of a data visualization platform leveraging machine learning technology

AcuteIQ is working with Barclaycard US to run an online marketing campaign using artificial intelligence for one of the customer segments, with a view to increase card applications online at a much lower acquisition cost per customer

“It is incredible to be part of the thriving FinTech ecosystem in New York and play an active role in the transformation of the finance industry. The 10 startups in this class are each tackling a different part of financial services, providing further indication that the category is a massive market opportunity. Working closely with Barclays has proven to be a strong collaboration opportunity for the startups and the Techstars community,” said Jenny Fielding, Managing Director, Techstars.

This second New York class of the Barclays Accelerator comes after running 6 programs in London, New York, Cape Town and Tel Aviv.

Following the last New York Barclays Accelerator program, several of the companies continue to work in partnership with Barclays. Wave, together with Barclays Corporate Banking, is revolutionizing Trade Finance through the use of blockchain technology, reducing costs, time and fraud; Chainalysis is working with Barclays Corporate to develop appropriate governance frameworks around blockchain technology; and LiveOak is working with Barclays UK on digitizing and improving the customer service experience for corporate clients.

More information on the Barclays Accelerator can be found at barclaysaccelerator.com.

The 10 companies of the 2016 New York class of the Barclays Accelerator are:

acuteIQ – Customer acquisition powered by artificial intelligence
Alpha Exchange – First open knowledge network for the capital markets community
Chroma – A securities exchange for the small business economy
Create – The property database of the future
ERNIT – The world’s first smart piggy bank
Morty – The newest, smartest way to get a mortgage
Painless1099 – A smart bank account for tax withholding for independent contractors
PierceMatrix – An artificial intelligence engine to identify and remove hackers
StackSource – A new online platform for commercial real estate loans
Windrush – Cutting edge data visualization for analysts
Techstars

Techstars is a global ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to bring new technologies to market wherever they choose to live. With dozens of mentorship-driven accelerator programs and thousands of community programs worldwide, Techstars exists to support the world’s most promising entrepreneurs throughout their lifelong journey, from inspiration to IPO. Techstars provides access to tens of thousands of community leaders, founders, mentors, investors, and corporate partners, allowing entrepreneurs to accelerate the pace of innovation and Do More Faster™. Techstars supports every stage of the entrepreneurial journey – from early stage grassroots community development to more formal opportunities that provide education, experience, acceleration, funding, and beyond.