Join the second batch of Wise Guys Fintech accelerator in collaboration with Swedbank

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Why Fintech Accelerator?

After successfully completing first Fintech focused accelerator program in the Baltics, Europe’s leading B2B accelerator and region’s largest bank are launching already the second Fintech focused accelerator program to be run from Riga, Latvia.

We are looking for early stage Fintech, PropTech, RegTech, cybersecurity, blockchain and InsurTech startups that have at least an MVP, solid & passionate team, collaboration possibilities with a bank and global ambitions!

At Startup Wise Guys, we’ve been accelerating startups since 2012, with already one major exit from our portfolio & overall startup survival rate of 77%. Having Swedbank backing us up with a market of more than 7 million customers and 50+ mentors from their team – well, we have what it takes to help early stage Fintech startups GO BIG!

small

Investment

up to 30.000 € investment

Data

Premium access to Swedbank APIs

Knowledge

Intensive 3 month mentoring program

Office

Free modern co-working space

First program aftermath

10 teams from 9 different countries graduated first Wise Guys Fintech accelerator. 5 of them launched their product during the accelerator and some of them already got first paying customers, 3 startups pivoted, some of more mature teams got their first international customers. It was tough, and it was fun, but for sure – all of them achieved more progress in 3 months that they would have in a year or more on their own.

Startups from the first Fintech program

CoinyPay

Fintech, Fundraising

Currencii

Fintech, Fundraising

Fully-Verified

Fintech, Fundraising

Motivio

Fintech, Fundraising

PayQin

Fintech, Fundraising

PayTipTop

Fintech, Fundraising

PiggyMind

Fintech, Fundraising

Sureberry

Fintech, Fundraising

Trisbee

Fintech, Fundraising

JetBeep

Fintech, Fundraising

Accelerator Timeline

Wise Guys Fintech accelerator consists of a 3 month intensive mentoring program taking place at the co-working space in Riga. With mentors specialised in financial service industries, the program curriculum focuses on idea shaping and validation, business development, sales and fundraising. But don’t worry – our Geek Squad will keep your developers challenged and busy too!

Applications Open

July - August

Startups can apply online and catch the Wise Guys Fintech team for a chat, office hours and free mentoring at events. Follow our Facebook page for updates on upcoming events.

Selection Bootcamp - September

Our selection committee, consisting of investors, Fintech mentors, Swedbank executives and Wise Guys Fintech team, will select up to 25 startups who will be invited for the 3 day Selection Bootcamp event in Riga, Latvia in September.
Program Starts

October - November

Ten teams relocate to Riga in second half of October and start working at DoBe co-working space at Swedbank headquarters. In first month of accelerator program startups are exposed to intensive speed mentoring, as well as hands-on workshops on business model, product-market fit, experiment design, and sales.

December

After getting the business model and sales in order, startups are exposed to special topic dedicated weeks such as Geek Week, Marketing Week & Investor Week right before Christmas break.
Christmas break

Investor exposure: January - February

Teams get broad exposure to Business Angels and VCs, with several opportunities to pitch at high profile regional startup events including Startup Day (Jan 23-25) and TechChill (Feb 21-22). As well as special visit to Stockholm with presentation to Swedbank group at their headquarters.

February

Mentoring intensity trails off in the last month of the program to allow teams to finally “do the real work”. The program officially finishes in mid February.
Post-Program Support

After-care: February - May

Continued on-demand help will be provided from mentors and Wise Guys Fintech team, as well as any needed support for ongoing pilots with Swedbank.

Collaboration with Swedbank

Swedbank has been involved in Startup Wise Guys B2B program for more than a year and we have successfully jointly completed the first Fintech accelerator in the Baltics with 10 startups. Being the largest bank in Latvia and one of the most innovative in the region, Swedbank offers access to internal resources – employees and top executives – as mentors.
Selected startups get premium access to Swedbank’s APIs, as well as potential access to 7 million clients across 4 markets through their Open Banking initiative. There are already 2 pilots in negotiation process from the first Fintech program. Also in second accelerator program Swedbank will seek potential piloting opportunities to build and scale applications together with the startup founders.
Swedbank is hosting accelerator in a specially furnished co-working space DoBe in their Riga headquarters. This gives startups not only cool office and easy access to Swedbank employees, but probably also the best view in town from their 25-floor skyscraper facing Riga’s Old Town.

Awesome Mentors

We have a deep network of 100+ mentors who are experts in their fields or founders of startups themselves. Here are some of our top Fintech mentors you will get the chance to meet and learn from at Wise Guys Fintech accelerator program.

Johan Lorenzen

Former CEO of Holvi (exited to BBVA)

Abhishek Balaria

CEO at Zentity

Farid Singh

Former Telefonica VP Product Manager

Ģirts Bērziņš

Head of Digital Strategy, Digital Banking at Swedbank
And 150 more… Take a look

Team

Running an accelerator is a bit like running a sports camp! This is the kick-ass team that will keep you on track with KPIs, give constructive feedback and make your stay in Riga a life-changing experience!

Juan Alonso Villalobos

Program Director

Serial entrepreneur and former CMO and CFO of National Nederlanden and ING Direct

Dag Ainsoo

CFO & Investment Manager at Startup Wise Guys

Serial entrepreneur, founder of SmartAD (exited to MTG), has invested in 30+ startups at System Capital

Mārite Aleksandra Silava

Fintech Community Manager at Swedbank Group

Half-banker half-entrepreneur with a passion for the startup environment

Cristobal Alonso

El Patron, Global CEO at Startup Wise Guys

Co-founded 3 companies, raised > 3 million eur, CxO roles at large Telco companies

And 10 more… Take a look

Applications open

Join the second Fintech program run by accelerator that has already worked with more than 13 Fintechs, including EstateGuru, Investly and Welltrado from earlier batches, and supported by the largest bank in the Baltics providing internal expertise, premium APIs and potential piloting. And did we mention the office with probably the best view in town?
Apply Now

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