Finance and tech giants join forces with SuperTech to solve FinTech’s biggest challenges

BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Bruntwood SciTech and SuperTech are offering up to 10 businesses the chance to solve three of FinTech’s most pressing challenges.

The consortium is looking for businesses and entrepreneurs in the fields of underwriting automation, data visualisation and chatbots, in a bid to build partnerships between technology businesses and financial institutions.

Applicable businesses will receive a host of benefits including access to corporate intelligence applicable to the use cases, senior financial services experts, mentoring and support, and six months complimentary access to premium co-working space at Bruntwood SciTech’s Innovation Birmingham campus.

Part-financed by the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership, with match funding from BNP Paribas Personal Finance and business support services from Bruntwood SciTech, including mentorship, investment pitch opportunities and 1:1 support, the SuperTech Serendip Incubator is designed to fast-track innovative ideas that will revolutionise the banking and financial sector.

The SuperTech Serendip Incubator is open to any UK-based SME business that has a digital tech solution, regardless of their current market, with a particular focus on those based within the West Midlands.

SuperTech executive lead, Hilary-Smyth-Allen said: “The region’s growing FinTech sector is already worth £411m and is growing rapidly. Globally, the financial services sector is expected to be worth $22.5 trillion by the end of this year.

“Demand led, challenge-based incubators are a proven model for stimulating innovation, building vital connections between the established and new entrants, and this is the first of its kind in a regional context for FinTech. As a recognised, “established FinTech hub”, this programme is a natural next step to further grow our ecosystem in this vital sector for the UK.

“We want the technology businesses that are helping to serve that market to be based here in the West Midlands, creating jobs and contributing to the region’s economy. We’re extremely pleased to bring together two of the leading players in both finance and technology to help fast-track that process for the chosen businesses.”

Stephen Hunt, CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance has commented on Serendip: “As a leading provider of consumer finance and a major employer in the region, innovation is key to our growth ambitions. We believe that collaboration with the FinTech sector can really create opportunities and momentum and we welcome the SuperTech Serendip Incubator to spark new ideas to deliver digital solutions that put the customer experience at the heart of what we do. We look forward to hearing from businesses and entrepreneurs interested in helping to drive transformation.”

Jamie Clyde, Regional Director - South, Bruntwood SciTech added: “This is the latest in our series of Serendip programmes, running alongside other programmes focussing on PropTech, HS2 and the NHS. In Serendip, we bring together early-stage businesses with corporates and mature enterprises, enabling the corporate to access fresh approaches from entrepreneurs to solve their business challenges and for entrepreneurs to gain case studies and new routes to market. By co-locating various programmes within our campus at Innovation Birmingham, early-stage businesses have the opportunity to collaborate and support each other.”

The application window for the SuperTech Serendip Incubator closes on 6th April 2022. To find out more and apply visit: www.supertechwm.com/serendip