Kickstart Accelerator selects top 30 fledgling fintechs for 2017
The Swiss initiative to encourage fintech start-ups has announced its shortlist for this year from over 1,500 applications.
The Swiss initiative to encourage fintech start-ups has announced its shortlist for this year from over 1,500 applications.
Switzerland’s financial technology (fintech) initiative to encourage start-ups, Kickstart Accelerator, published its shortlist of 30 selected this year for its second cohort in the four verticals (fintech, food, smart cities and robotics/intelligent systems) in Zurich.
The accelerator, developed by digitalswitzerland and operated by Impact Hub Zurich said the 30 were selected from over 1,500 applications. The top 60 were invited to participate in the final part of the selection process – a two day bootcamp in Zurich, where they pitched their ideas to an experienced jury, comprised of industry professionals, investors and corporate representatives.
The final 30, 2% of all those that applied, were chosen to take part in an 11-week programme taking place from 4 September to 17 November. Kickstart Accelerator will be based in Kraftwerk, an old transformer station in Zurich, which has been converted into a unique collaboration and innovation space
This year, start-ups from a total of 15 countries, including South Korea, South Africa, Finland, Ukraine and Singapore have made it into the programme. Nineteen of the 30 start-ups selected come from Europe, five from the US, three from Asia, two from Africa and one from Australia. Further details on this year’s qualifiers are available here.