Startups learn and compete at FIS Fintech Accelerator event | Jax Daily Record | Jacksonville Daily Record
Fintech companies played a version of “Shark Tank” Nov. 16 at the FIS Fintech Accelerator Demo Day 2022 at the new Fidelity National Information Services Inc. headquarters at 601 Riverside Ave.
But in this game, the sharks were also the coaches.
FIS selected 10 companies from more than 100 applicants around the world to participate in a 16-week course to refine their software, improve their marketing and polish their sales pitches to potential customers.
The presenters each had seven minutes to give their pitches to FIS judges and financial managers.
The companies created software to protect against fraud, improve online money transfers, redact documents and allow employees to collect part of their wages before being paid.
Gary Norcross, FIS Executive Director, presents opening remarks to participants and those gathered at the 2022 FIS Fintech Acceleration Demo Day on November 16 at the Innovation Center at FIS headquarters in Brooklyn.
Neural Payments, which offers free financial services to customers, was named Best in Show. The Mason, Ohio, company is privately held and was co-founded in 2018 by CEO Mick Oppy. It has 10 employees.
The company’s software connects to a financial institution’s app for peer-to-peer transactions. Neural Payments works directly with banks and credit unions to facilitate transactions. It is designed to create brand loyalty for the customer and reduce costs and fraud for the bank.
The experience was important for Neural Payments, said managing director Melissa Kopp, who made the company’s pitch.
“It gave the confirmation that what we are building is what the market needs.”
This was the seventh year FIS has invited companies to participate. The accelerator classes and demo day were previously held at the FIS offices in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Kayling Gaver, Tapcheck COO, had seven minutes to explain her business and how it solves customers’ problems.
This year, the demonstrations took place at the company’s new headquarters in Jacksonville, which opened in October. It was the opening event at the building’s Innovation Centre.
There were some initial mistakes. The microphones did not work. A video could not be played. A fire alarm went off during a presenter’s video, leading some to wonder if it was part of her demonstration.
“I didn’t realize there was an alarm. I thought my designer slipped something in at the last minute that I didn’t know about,” said Neepa Patel, founder and CEO of Themis. The company makes financial compliance software.
FIS is a world leader in fintech. Even with its position, it is looking for smaller partner companies to provide better service.
“We know FIS can’t invent everything. We spend more than $1 billion a year on development and we can’t invent everything,” says Gary Norcross, Chairman and CEO of FIS.
Rob Lee, president of FIS Impact Ventures, was part of the group that developed the FIS Fintech Accelerator. The purpose is to find complementary companies to support other FIS financial services.
“We bring fintechs, smaller companies, growing companies, emerging companies, to our clients that are complementary and complementary to our capabilities,” he said.
By guiding young operators, FIS wants to build long-term relationships. So far, the companies that participate have a 90% success rate, meaning they are still in business and continue to grow and raise funds or have been acquired.
Rob Lee, president of FIS Impact Ventures, and Gary Norcross, FIS CEO, spoke to the participants before the seven-minute pitches.
“This is not an easy arena to build a company in,” Lee said.
The 2020 Best in Show winner was Andrew Gowasack, president and co-founder of Trust Stamp, which makes facial recognition software.
He offered the contestants pitching advice from his experience in the program.
“Don’t concentrate on the next thing you have to do. You have to build trust by following through on what you have already promised,” he said
Other 2022 places include:
• Tapcheck – A platform that gives employees access to money they’ve already earned before payday.
• Nickels – The Credit Card Coach app can be purchased by banks to help customers manage debt or suggest refinancing options.
• Sardin – The platform reduces fraud in banking transactions. It is already working with Neural Payments to explore ways to better detect and avoid fraud.
• Redactable – Software companies and governments can use it to edit documents that cannot be broken.
• Sygno – Another fraud detection service. Instead of specifically looking for fraud, it models honest transactions to better capture the irregularities of fraudulent transactions. It offered one of the slogans of the day: “Know good, catch bad.”
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