The Innotribe Startup Challenge attendees selected the five finalists from the European leg of the Startup Challenge to compete at Sibos Singapore in October. Fifteen early-stage and growth-stage startups delivered compelling pitches to an audience of financial services experts, fintech professionals, angel investors, venture capitalists, and global bank decision-makers. The showcase was held at East Wintergarden at Canary Wharf, on Wednesday 22 April, in partnership with the Finextra Future Money conference.

The three early-stage startup finalists are:

·         Pariti Technologies helping people to avoid high-interest debt, access fairer rates of credit, and build a more secure financial future, by offering tools, guidance, and access to low-cost loans

·         Revolut allowing customers to exchange currencies at interbank rates, send them through social networks, and spend money with a multi-currency card accepted anywhere

·         Sedicii with their technology based on the Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol that eliminates the transmission, storage and exposure of private data during authentication or identity verification

The two growth-stage startups finalists are:

·         Elliptic using the blockchain technology to securely and transparently transfer and manage a range of financial assets

·         xWare42, whose product xPay makes transaction contents more intuitive for everyone, by giving to customers a more documented picture of their purchases

Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Markets Management, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute at SWIFT says: “London was once again a great kick-off to the Innotribe Startup Challenge and it was exciting to see inspiring companies present their innovations to a packed room. The quality of the pitches was excellent and the startups can be proud of their performance on stage. We wish the finalists the best of luck at the Finale at Sibos later this year.”

Commenting on London’s innovation landscape, Vandenreydt adds: “Fintech investments in Europe have been on the rise for the last couple of years, with London ranking at the top position. With many financial services companies and large banks having their headquarters in the city, London is definitely a unique innovation environment for the startup community.”

The London event was the first regional showcase to be held in 2015 and was sponsored by HP, Invest NI, Level39, Luxembourg for Finance, and Wells Fargo. Next steps of the Startup Challenge programme will be the regional showcases to be held in Cape Town on 6 May, Singapore on 28 May, and New York on 18 June