Consulting giant Accenture has named 15 companies selected to participate in its prestigious London-based Fintech Innovation Lab, a three-month intensive program designed to accelerate technology deve
Consulting giant Accenture has named 15 companies selected to participate in its prestigious London-based Fintech Innovation Lab, a three-month intensive program designed to accelerate technology development within startups and forge critical connections between emerging firms and established financial players.
Among those chosen is Crowdaura, which leverages blockchain systems to streamline processes including filing requirements, client acquisition, product sales, transaction finalization, and ongoing administration. The firm offers a trio of integrated solutions: a workflow engine that manages the securities issue lifecycle alongside investor relations and fund tracking; the Crowd Dynamics platform focused on marketing and selling financial instruments; and a blockchain system functioning as a settlement, clearing, and record-keeping infrastructure.
Crowdaura's founder and chief executive, Dr. Avtar Sehra, highlighted clearing and settlement operations as particularly ripe for blockchain implementation, calling them areas where "there will be most of the 'quick wins' and real world financial applications due to significant cost and transparency benefits." The company is currently developing both private blockchain implementations leveraging open-source tools for restricted industry consortiums and a public-facing component utilizing networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum to handle securities creation, payment-versus-delivery transfers, and dividend operations in traditional currency. "We are also looking at constructing a complete on-chain tradable option contract," Sehra explained, adding that "tradable options on the blockchain will be a game changer for the financial services industry in general and risk management specifically." He noted optimism about institutional finance talent entering the blockchain space, predicting that "the core development and exploration over 2016 will skyrocket and we will see many more advanced use cases."
Participants will operate from Level 39 in Canary Wharf, London's premier fintech ecosystem. Accenture's initiative brings together 16 major banking institutions including Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Santander, HSBC, and USB, which will assign senior executives to mentor the cohort. Half a dozen companies will earn invitations to pitch investors at a dedicated forum in April.
"Blending our expertise alongside the entrepreneurial energy of these founders creates an effective pipeline for solutions delivering genuine customer value," said Stuart Gulliver, HSBC's group chief executive. Deutsche Bank's chief operating and information officer Kim Hammonds emphasized that "disruptive technology represents a critical priority for our sector," stressing the importance of engaging with early-stage ventures.
The remaining 14 participants span diverse problems: AimBrain delivers biometric login tools for financial services; Albert provides accounting and wealth management for independent professionals; AlgoDynamix offers predictive analytics for investment portfolios; ClauseMatch creates collaborative contract management systems; Contego performs identity and risk assessment on entities; Cutover minimizes disruption and expense during complex system transitions; PassFort delivers compliance automation; PayKey introduced the first payment-enabled keyboard; Quotip manages structured product administration; SBDA Group employs algorithms to enable algorithmic advisory services; TalentRank assesses professional competency; Undo provides software debugging and hardening; Voleo enables syndicated mobile investing; and ZeroDB provides encrypted cloud database services maintaining user control and data confidentiality.
