THE BRIDGE

tag Startupbootcamp FinTech

First-ever Startupbootcamp Fintech accelerator demo tour winds up in Tokyo

SHARE:

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. The Fintech Accelerator program run by Startupbootcamp, based in Singapore and lasting three months long, held its first ever Demo Tour in Asia. Commencing with its home base in Singapore on July 5th, the 10-day “Odyssey” of 11 participants from seven countries entailed visits to Chengdu and Hong Kong in China before winding up on July 14th in Tokyo, Japan (albeit on the final day only eight startups gave pitches, three firms of AIM from Korea, Fugle from Taiwan and Smartfolios from Russia being absent). In Tokyo, the Demo Tour was hosted by Finolab, with support from local partners. Startupbootcamp is the accelerator arm of venturebuilder/design studio/consultancy Rainmaking, which has 11 offices on three continents. In Asia they seek to promote entrepreneurial problem solving within corporate teams across multiple industries. The Tokyo visit was opened by a Startupbootcamp Asia representative who outlined the endeavor and paved the way for the startups that had made it to Japan, with the day being ended by the Startupbootcamp FinTech Program Director summing up the tour. See also: Startupbootcamp FinTech Singapore demo day showcases…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


Steven Tong, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp FinTech

The Fintech Accelerator program run by Startupbootcamp, based in Singapore and lasting three months long, held its first ever Demo Tour in Asia. Commencing with its home base in Singapore on July 5th, the 10-day “Odyssey” of 11 participants from seven countries entailed visits to Chengdu and Hong Kong in China before winding up on July 14th in Tokyo, Japan (albeit on the final day only eight startups gave pitches, three firms of AIM from Korea, Fugle from Taiwan and Smartfolios from Russia being absent). In Tokyo, the Demo Tour was hosted by Finolab, with support from local partners.

Startupbootcamp is the accelerator arm of venturebuilder/design studio/consultancy Rainmaking, which has 11 offices on three continents. In Asia they seek to promote entrepreneurial problem solving within corporate teams across multiple industries. The Tokyo visit was opened by a Startupbootcamp Asia representative who outlined the endeavor and paved the way for the startups that had made it to Japan, with the day being ended by the Startupbootcamp FinTech Program Director summing up the tour.

See also:

An overview of the pitches by the eight are as follows:

CherryPay (Singapore)

Singapore’s CherryPay presented their international Peer-to-Peer money transfer matching platform, which has the backing of Amazon Web Services as well as Cisco Systems. Chief Marketing Officer Kate Wu said her company provides reasonable rates and affordable service fees in addition to quick receipt of funds via local bank accounts through leveraging of its transborder network.

Smallticket (Korea)

Another businesswoman, who stood out in an attention-grabbing garb emblazoned with her company logo, was Julie Kim Jung Eun, Founder and the top officer at Smallticket of Korea. This online social insurance broker outfit, which minimizes risks using Peer-to-Peer rewarding platform, underscored the merits for micro-segment groups that utilize their system.

Vesl (the Philippines)

An all-Filipina management team as represented by the lady in charge of product development spoke on behalf of Vesl. It was noted that trade credit insurance at bite size was being availed to SMEs and others such as farmers cooperatives hitherto ineligible to gain access to cheaper financing. The startup from the Philippines now has an agreement with a global insurance broker.

Morakot (Cambodia)

Speaking of the Philippines, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Sophorth Khuon, of Cambodia’s Morakot offering microfinance, unveiled his company’s expansion plan into the island nation in 2018, following this year’s entry into Myanmar. He highlighted the problems faced by emerging markets, which his startup seeks to address with a business model based on core banking.

Scalend (India)

Regarding solutions for difficult challenges as exemplified with dealing with Big Data, Scalend showcased its AI-backed data and insights discovery platform for financial services companies. Ravi Madhira, who is one of the two co-founders, talked about how he and his business partner had over forty years of collective experience in building internet scale systems.

Jumper.ai (India)

As for AI, Jumper.ai co-founder Yash Kotak of jumper.ai outlined their social media-use e-commerce enabler which realizes Instant Checkout among other things. The auto-engage sales based on jumper tech can be used on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube, with planned adoption on other social media like Line in the near future.

Tixguru (Singapore)

Another Artificial Intelligence user, Singapore-based startup Tixguru, focuses on quantitative trading recommendations for financial institutions. Its robot advisor, according to Chief Operating Officer James Ong, is grounded in a decade-long experience in this business sector.

Smart Trade (Japan / China)

Smart Trade, with a base in both Japan and China, is also involved in “quant trading” although in this startup platform’s case the target market comprises individual investors. CEO@Japan and co-founder Tomoyuki Uchida highlighted their Algorithm Store and Algorithm Factory lines. The company CMO and co-founder Guangzhen Li is also known for being active in this arena.

Startupbootcamp FinTech FastTrack lands in Tokyo, opening to early-stage FinTech startups

SHARE:

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology. All photos in this article are courtesy of the Startupbootcamp FinTech’s Mentor Augustus Loi. On the 10th November, leading FinTech accelerator Startupbootcamp FinTech arrived in Japan and got the opportunity to speak in the 7th FinTech Meetup, a large “mixer” near Tokyo station with several hundred participants hosted by FinTech Association Japan. Japanese fintechs were informed of the opportunity to gain “fast track” as startups, by pitching ideas for receiving feedback from experienced mentors from financial services, angel investors as well as the opportunity to get on the ‘watch-list’ for Startupbootcamp FinTech’s 2016 accelerator program. Interestingly, on the opening day of train-focused mass transit fair near Tokyo where many startups are participating in order to “get on track” in that business sector, the Startupbootcamp FinTech held next day on the 11th their FastTrack pitstop in Tokyo together with partner PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The event attracted startups focused on the different aspects of FinTech: cryptocurrency, wealth management and capital markets. This half-day event opened its doors to these innovative early-stage companies looking for expert advice and exposure. They are given direct access to an…

This is a guest post authored by “Tex” Pomeroy. He is a Tokyo-based writer specializing in ICT and high technology.


sbc-fintech-fasttrack-tokyo-steven-tong
Startupbootcamp Fintech’s Steven Tong

All photos in this article are courtesy of the Startupbootcamp FinTech’s Mentor Augustus Loi.

On the 10th November, leading FinTech accelerator Startupbootcamp FinTech arrived in Japan and got the opportunity to speak in the 7th FinTech Meetup, a large “mixer” near Tokyo station with several hundred participants hosted by FinTech Association Japan.

Japanese fintechs were informed of the opportunity to gain “fast track” as startups, by pitching ideas for receiving feedback from experienced mentors from financial services, angel investors as well as the opportunity to get on the ‘watch-list’ for Startupbootcamp FinTech’s 2016 accelerator program.

Interestingly, on the opening day of train-focused mass transit fair near Tokyo where many startups are participating in order to “get on track” in that business sector, the Startupbootcamp FinTech held next day on the 11th their FastTrack pitstop in Tokyo together with partner PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The event attracted startups focused on the different aspects of FinTech: cryptocurrency, wealth management and capital markets. This half-day event opened its doors to these innovative early-stage companies looking for expert advice and exposure. They are given direct access to an international network of mentors and partners to pitch to and get valuable inputs for one-on-ones.

Startupbootcamp selected Tokyo as one of 14 Asian destinations for the FinTech FastTrack tour after witnessing the robust growth in financial innovation for Japan.

When we first held a FastTrack in Tokyo 9 months ago, we found hardly any FinTech activity with very few startups and limited interest from the financial industry.

Now we see an influx of interest from finance professionals and investors, more noise being made by entrepreneurs and many events dedicated to FinTech and startups rising from Japan. The development of FinTech Association is a good sign to help grow this exciting industry and we are excited to be back in Tokyo.

Markus Gnirck, Global COO of Startupbootcamp FinTech commented on the quick ascension of FinTech.

FastTrack events are a bite-sized glimpse into the value of a Startupbootcamp program. Startups will have the opportunity to connect with top mentors, get feedback from other startups and meet the Startupbootcamp FinTech team. One-on-one sessions with local industry experts in the finance, investment and entrepreneurial space will provide advice on how to improve their product, business model and pitching skills.

By participating, startups also gains access to the Startupbootcamp FinTech global community. After the FastTrack tour, Startupbootcamp FinTech will select 10 startups to take part in their three month intensive 2016 FinTech accelerator in Singapore. StartupBootCamp FinTech’s last FastTrack tour resulted in 2 startups receiving investment based on connections they made at the events.

Marcus von Engel, Partner at PwC said,

In the ultrafast-paced world of disruptive technologies in the financial services industry, there are significant opportunities for financial institutions, startup companies, consulting firms and other industry stakeholders to compete and collaborate upon achieving success. Fast Track sessions are an important catalyst for bringing together ideas and industry experts. PwC is proud to be a part of this effort where we can also offer our insights in Fintech focus areas, whether it is cybersecurity, payment systems, peer-to-peer financing and new customer experience approaches in the new Digital World.

Steven Tong, Managing Director of Startupbootcamp FinTech said,

We are only on our second leg of the FastTrack and we have seen promising startups that we are keeping an eye on and want to mentor to be accelerator-ready. We encourage startups, at whatever stage in their early development, to apply to join us for the unprecedented opportunity to connect with Startupbootcamp FinTechs global community and access worldwide opportunities.”

Successful FastTrack startups will join the watch list and have the potential to be selected for the Startupbootcamp FinTech accelerator program, in addition to receiving:

  • Extensive mentorship from 200+ entrepreneurs, investors and partners
  • Access to top markets in Europe, US and the Asia-Pacific region
  • 3+1 months’ free office space
  • 24,500 Singapore dollars (about 17,000 US dollars) in cash per team
  • Exposure to 200+ Angels & VCs
  • Invitation to the Startupbootcamp global alumni network and growth program

For more information, visit the Startupbootcamp FinTech website.

Here are some of startups which delivered their awesome pitch at this event:

Quick Money Recorder by Smart Idea

sbc-fintech-fasttrack-tokyo-smartidea

Quick Money Recorder, provided by Tokyo-based startup Smart Idea, is an app for household account book with the very concept of ‘simple is best.’ It focuses only on simple input of articles and money amount, while other similar apps have been enhancing automatic reading receipts or cooperation with online systems.

See also:

One Tap Buy

sbc-fintech-fasttrack-tokyo-OneTapBuy

Previously known as MyBanker, One Tap Buy has been focused on developing mobile app which specifically helps people manage their savings and investments more easily. The company has fundraised from Mobile Internet Capital (backed by NTT Docomo and Mizuho Securities), DBJ Capital (the investment arm of Development Bank of Japan), Mitsui Life Insurance’s Sansei Capital, and other undisclosed VC firms.

Crowdify

sbc-fintech-fasttrack-tokyo-crowdify

Launched by Tokyo-based New Zealander Michael Q Todd, Crowdify is to help startups grow by gathering together a community of 5-10,000 influencers in major cities in the world about several categories of technology such Cleantech, Mobile, Ecommerce, Fintech, Biotech, and Healthtech.