BNP Paribas selected eight financial technology startups for its L'Atelier accelerator program. The Paris-based bank will fund and mentor the companies over four months, with each team receiving 100,0
BNP Paribas selected eight financial technology startups for its L'Atelier accelerator program. The Paris-based bank will fund and mentor the companies over four months, with each team receiving 100,000 euros and coaching in technology, marketing, business development, and fundraising. The cohort spans blockchain technology, artificial intelligence, insurance, and regulatory compliance.
CommonAccord, a blockchain project from James Hazard and Primavera de Filippi, won a spot. The startup builds modular legal templates designed to work with smart contracts, enabling parties to codify deal terms into documents that synchronize across networks. Participants can synchronize through git, blockchain, email, or whatever method suits them.
Primavera de Filippi, a research fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, described the approach: "The goal is to make the documents so modular that much of the text disappears, leaving parties with only specific deal points and clear relationships. These relationships can be 'rendered' at any time into full legal documents, for verification and enforcement."
Smart contracts automate routine transaction functions while the legal text provides a framework for enforceability, de Filippi explained. CommonAccord will partner with BNP Paribas Cardiff, the group's international insurance division.
Seven other startups make up the rest of the cohort, each tackling distinct challenges across the bank's operations. Amalfi, a peer-to-peer insurance broker, cuts customer costs through behavioral analysis and community management, partnering with Cardiff. Fortia Financial Solutions applies machine learning and AI to compliance problems and works with BNP Paribas Securities Services.
Heuritech built an artificial intelligence platform that turns images and multilingual text into usable data, pairing with Personal Finance. KYC3 uses machine learning on unstructured data to help companies manage regulatory and reputational risk, joining Wealth Management. LogMote delivers unified authentication that spans both legacy and cloud systems, working with the Retail Banking Division. PayCar streamlines used car transactions and partners with Cardiff. TwinPeek gives users control over their personal data, allowing them to decide what information to share during online transactions and browsing, and teams with Wealth Management.
BNP Paribas attracted 142 applications for the program. About one-third came from countries outside France. The bank assigns each startup to a business unit focused on specific operational needs: insurance, payments, customer experience, risk analysis, and compliance.
Yoann Jaffré, head of the Open Innovation Lab at L'Atelier BNP Paribas, pointed to the volume of interest as evidence that "banks and startups are natural allies in the process of rethinking banking and insurance services going forward."
