Nordea Accelerator: Fintech startups pitch ideas to investors

Nordea's Accelerator Programme culminates with 13 fintech startups pitching their smart solutions to investors on Tuesday as Nordea firmly positions itself as a proactive player in the dynamic fintech sector.

The 13 companies selected from over 200 fintech startups that applied to compete in the Nordea Startup Accelerator have been fine-tuning their business ideas for the past three months together with experts from Nordea and partner Nestholma Venture Accelerator along with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and IBM. The startups will present their ideas to hundreds of investors from around the world during a Demo Day to be held in Helsinki on 29 November.

Some of the startups have already signed a pilot or similar agreement with Nordea, the largest bank in the Nordic region and one of the largest banks in Europe. Such collaboration is becoming increasingly important as Nordea seeks to capitalise on the digital expertise of fintech startups so that it can quickly develop innovative products and services for its customers.

Two of the startups that are in the process of signing pilot agreements with Nordea are Collectly and Fjuul. Collectly, based in the United States, automates debt collection processes with the help of an artificial intelligence-powered web application that automatically negotiates better returns for customers. Finland-based Fjuul has developed an app that brings digital health to your everyday life by turning physical activity into rewards, such as discounts for insurance premiums. This also enables insurers to offer highly engaging customer services, cross-selling and flexible pricing.

- We are very excited to show the results of this year's Nordea Startup Accelerator, which demonstrates that Nordea is an active player in the fintech startup scene, says Ewan Macleod, Chief Digital Officer at Nordea.

Global investments in fintech ventures tripled in 2014 and continued to grow to USD 19.1 billion in 2015, according to KPMG and CB Insights. Fintech companies are offering a wider range of services across different segments, technologies and geographical regions using emerging technologies like cognitive computing and artificial intelligence.

This is Nordea's second Accelerator programme, the largest of its kind in the Nordic region. Nordea has continued to work with two of the fintech startups selected during the first programme (Jenny and Feelingstream).

The 13 finalists from the second programme who will pitch their ideas on Tuesday are Collectly (USA), TAVIQ (Finland), YeyNey (Norway), Zash (Sweden), Trayce (Denmark), Minatjänster.se (Sweden), TikkR (Sweden), Voxo (Sweden), Asteria (Sweden), Fjuul (Finland), Smartcalling (UK), Kuan (Hong Kong) and Bankiton (Finland).

For more information about Nordea's accelerator programme, go to www.nordeaaccelerator.com or follow us on Twitter via @NordeaStartup or #NordeaAccelerator. For information about Nestholma, see www.nestholma.com.

For further information, please contact:
Susanna Aarnio-Halme, Senior Communicator, Finland, +358 50 61749
Petter Larsson, Press Officer, Sweden, +46 722 31 52 50