[November 08, 2012]

The New York FinTech Innovation Lab Launches Search for Leading Financial Technology Innovators

The Partnership for New York City Fund and Accenture (News - Alert) (NYSE:ACN) announced the search for top financial technology innovators who will work with global financial institutions to bring their ideas to market in the nation's financial capital. Winning companies will be part of the FinTech Innovation Lab, a 12-week program that helps early- and growth-stage financial technology innovators accelerate product development and gain exposure to top-level financial industry executives. Applications are available at www.fintechinnovationlab.com and are due by December 19, 2012.

The FinTech Innovation Lab is entering its third year of operation. Since 2010, it has provided a dozen technology entrepreneurs with mentoring and access to more than 30 leading bank CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, venture capitalists and technology luminaries. The six companies in last year's program deployed 20 proofs-of-concept at participating financial institutions.

The Lab provides an opportunity for leading financial institutions to help develop potentially game-changing technologies within their field. It is supported by Ally Financial, American Express (NYSE: AXP), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Barclays (LSE: BARC), Capital One (News - Alert) (NYSE: COF), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse (VX: CSGN), Deutsche Bank (Xetra: DBK), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), New York Life, State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), and UBS (VX: UBSN). Supporting venture firms include Bain Capital Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, Rho Ventures, RRE Ventures, and Warburg Pincus (News - Alert).

"In its first two years, the FinTech Innovation Lab has been uniquely successful in providing early- and growth-stage fintech companies with unprecedented access to some of New York City's most important financial institutions," said Maria Gotsch, President and CEO of Partnership for New York City Fund. "As a direct result of this engagement, the fintech companies from past programs are expanding their NYC operations and creating jobs. We look forward to reviewing the next round of applicants for the third installment of the FinTech Innovation Lab."

"Technology innovation is one of the most important levers of change in the financial industry: it can deepen customer relationships, reduce risks and costs, and create new opportunity," said Bob Gach, global managing director of Accenture's Capital Markets practice. "Accenture is delighted to continue in its third year co-sponsoring and running this important program. We are proud of the Lab's success in helping New York City develop its financial technology ecosystem and of the strong value it delivers to supporting institutions."

2013 FinTech Innovation Lab

The FinTech Innovation Lab is a program for entrepreneurs that are developing cutting-edge technologies for the financial services sector - particularly in the areas of big data and analytics, mobile and wireless, payments, risk management, security, and social media and collaboration technologies.

• The chief technology officers and senior technology executives from the 14 participating financial institutions will select six entrepreneurs to participate in the Lab through a competitive process. Applicants must have at least a working beta version of their technology that is ready to be tested for either the institutional or retail market.
• The Lab egins in April 2013, and will partner the chosen entrepreneurs with senior-level bank executives and leading technology entrepreneurs who will help them fine-tune and develop their technologies and business strategies through a series of workshops, panel discussions, user-group sessions, networking opportunities, one-on-one meetings and presentations. Selected companies will be entitled to receive $25,000 and work space in New York City.
• It culminates in July with a Demo Day presentation by all six participants in front of an audience of venture capitalists and financial industry executives.

"Barclays is pleased to support the FinTech Innovation Lab, which is uniquely positioned to foster economic growth and technical innovation for both New York City and the financial services industry," said Joe Squeri, Chief Information Officer for Barclays Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management. "The Lab's work to connect technology innovators with financial institutions is helping develop jobs and opportunities in New York City, so that entrepreneurs can turn their next great idea into business reality."

"Capital One was built around a single innovative concept, and we know from our own experience that some of the best new ideas are created in dynamic and creative environments," said Monique Shivanandan, senior vice president and chief technology officer. "The FinTech Innovation Lab is a place that allows new ideas to surface and provides us with exposure to the latest thinking in banking technology."

"The pace of change in our industry is accelerating, and staying a step ahead is critical to all of us at Citi," said Steve Randich, Citi's Co-Chief Information Officer. "Participating in the FinTech Innovation Lab is one of the ways we're keeping up to speed on - and helping to foster - emerging technologies."

"I'm happy that we at Credit Suisse can continue to support the FinTech program, now in multiple continents, as we try to discover and help technically innovative initiatives be successful in our industry," said Nigel Faulkner, Chief Information Officer, Investment Banking at Credit Suisse.

"JPMorgan Chase is proud to once again participate in and support the FinTech Innovation Lab," said Guy Chiarello, Chief Information Officer for JPMorgan Chase. "Cloud, Mobile, Big Data Analytics, Social Media and Security are five key disruptive trends currently transforming much of the financial services industry. As technology continues to provide strategic leverage for our businesses, we will continue to turn to the innovators and fresh thinkers for ideas and solutions in these industry changing areas."

"As a member of the New York City community for more than 167 years, New York Life is committed to helping drive growth within our community," said Don Desiderato, CTO of Investment Information Technology at New York Life Insurance Company. "Our new partnership with the FinTech Innovation Lab is a perfect way to continue with this commitment while also supporting New York Life's strategy of advancing innovation throughout our firm."

"UBS is proud to partner with and support those firms that are leading the technology revolution in key areas such as Big Data, Mobile, Social and Cloud," said UBS Group CTO Andy Brown. "The FinTech Innovation Lab allows large enterprises like ours to explain our needs and helps the participants deliver solutions that meet them."

"Warburg Pincus is proud to be a sponsor of the FinTech Innovation Lab," said Cary J. Davis, managing director responsible for FinTech Investments at Warburg Pincus. "The Lab, which connects emerging FinTech companies with executives at top financial firms in New York City, is critical to the growth of these new businesses and leverages the City's role as a global center for financial services."

About the Partnership for New York City Fund

The Partnership for New York City Fund (www.pfnyc.org) - formerly the New York City Investment Fund - is the vision of Henry R. Kravis, founding partner of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., who serves as its Founding Chairman. The Partnership Fund has raised over $110 million to mobilize the city's world financial and business leaders to help build a stronger and more diversified local economy. It has built a network of top experts from the investment and corporate communities who help identify and support New York City's most promising entrepreneurs in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. The Fund is governed by a Board of Directors co-chaired by Richard M. Cashin, Managing Partner of One Equity Partners, and Charles "Chip" Kaye, co-president of Warburg Pincus LLC. The Partnership Fund is an affiliate of the Partnership for New York City (www.pfnyc.org), an organization of the leaders of New York City's top corporate, investment, and entrepreneurial firms. They work in partnership with city and state government officials, labor groups, and the nonprofit sector to promote the interest of the city and its neighborhoods. The Partnership carries out research, policy formulation, and issue advocacy at the city, state, and federal levels, leveraging the resources and expertise of its CEO and Corporate partners.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with 257,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

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