Twelve firms shortlisted at South African FinTech contest
Having reviewed all the entries for the 2019, Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Southern Africa, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and KPMG Matchi have now shortlisted 12 financial technology (FinTech) solutions to be presented at a Fintech Demo Day at the end of this month.
SARB and KPMG Matchi came together in August to organise the Hackcelerator, inviting entries from all over South Africa. Two winners of the contest will have the opportunity to attend the Fintech Festival that is set to take place in Singapore later this year, presenting their ideas to some of the world’s leading FinTech innovators.
Analysts at KPMG Matchi reviewed the 95 entries that they received for the contest, before forwarding them to a panel of 24 South African executives for a second review. Executives on the panel hailed from sectors affected by the FinTech paradigm, including banking, financial services, and technological innovation.
The Big Four banking corporations – Standard Bank, Absa, FirstRand and Nedbank – were all represented on the panel, in addition to Capitec, Investec, SARB, Liberty Group, the National Treasury, and several others. Each of these organisations is closely involved in South Africa’s rapidly evolving FinTech landscape.
The two rounds of scrutiny yielded 12 winning ideas, which will now be presented for further scrutiny at a demo day that is set to take place in Johannesburg on the 29th of October. Innovation and sustainability will be the main criteria at the event.
Two winning ideas will be selected from the 12 to go to Singapore, where they will not only have the opportunity to network with leading FinTech innovators, but will also receive a grant to develop a proof of concept, which is due one year from demo day. The winners will also be granted access the Singapore and Asia-Pacific markets.
For now, on the 29th, the ideas will be reviewed by a panel of judges. The SARB will have representation on the panel, as will the Financial Sector Conduct Authority and experts on the Asian market. So far, the 12 solutions feature a variety of innovative ideas, ranging from independent asset insurance advice applications, to advanced data analytic tools, to auditing platforms grounded in artificial intelligence.
