The third edition of DIFC FinTech Hive’s accelerator programme has received an overwhelming response of over 425 applications from across the world, including Asia, Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
This year’s programme will feature a larger pool of start-ups – from 22 in 2018 to 31. The finalists consist of 15 start-ups specialising in the FinTech sector, 10 in the InsurTech sector, four specialising in the Islamic FinTech sector and two in the RegTech sector.
The selected were evaluated by the programme’s 21 participating partners, who made an assessment based on a set criteria including business proposition viability, applicability of technology to the region, potential to benefit from the programme, followed by extensive one-on-one interviews.
The accelerator programme consists of a three-month curriculum in which a group of selected finalists work closely with stakeholders and representatives from various fields to create innovative and forward-looking solutions that aim to address the evolving needs of the region’s financial services industry.
The 21 participating partners who will mentor the start-ups include Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), Emirates Islamic, Emirates NBD, Finablr, HSBC, National Bank of Fujairah, Noor Bank, Riyad Bank, Standard Chartered, and Visa, as well as associate financial institution partners Arab Bank and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB).
InsurTech start-ups will work with leading insurance players AXA Gulf, Noor Takaful, Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (DIFC), AIG, Insurance House, Cigna Insurance Middle East SAL and MetLife. M