The blossoming African Fintech Market has received a further boost as South African Bank Standard Bank partners with United States based Accelerator INV Fintech.
INV Fintech was formed in 2015 by a partnership between financial services firm Fiserv and financial technologies news platform Bank Innovation. It is an accelerator for post-seed-stage fintech startups.
It helps fintech startups from around the world strive for greatness. With ardent support from Fiserv, a technology partner and a selection of top financial institutions that are members and mentors, as well as a collection of top-tier industry mentors, INV cultivates fintech ideas and innovation with the kind of seriousness required by the goal of comprehensive success.
INV seeks startups that target any and all facets of the fintech ecosystem and works with partners and members to create the best possible startups, technologies and financial services products. It also relies on its strong global fintech network as it maintains operations in New York, Europe, Israel and Silicon Valley.
It works with its startups during two annual classes to advance their valuation and product set, with the Johannesburg-headquartered Standard Bank now joining as one of several innovation-oriented financial services companies as INV Partners.
Sequel to the agreement, Standard Bank will participate in the accelerator activities of INV Fintech, including considering startups in the accelerator for investment, market trials or acquisition. Investments will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Standard Bank has also committed to providing mentorship to startups in the INV accelerator.
“We are excited to partner with INV Fintech in their accelerator programme,” said Peter Schlebusch, Standard Bank Group chief executive of personal and business banking.
“In a world that changes at an incredible pace, exposure to new startups and emerging technologies enables Standard Bank to learn and expose Africa to new technologies to drive her growth.”
Partners of INV Fintech receive exposure to the startups in the INV accelerator programme, and network with other innovation-minded financial services professionals.
“We are extremely proud to welcome Standard Bank to INV,” said JJ Hornblass, principal at INV Fintech. “Standard offers INV an invaluable path to the African financial services market, which has embraced mobile finance. We welcome the opportunity to seize on this dynamic emerging market, with Standard’s skilled guidance.”
