Yesterday the payments network formerly known as #clearXchange, a product offered by Early Warning, officially re-branded itself as #Zelle. The announcement was made by Early Warning’s president and CEO Paul Finch as he strode onto the Money20/20 stage wearing a polo with the brand–Zelle&8211;proudly embroidered in white. The Zelle network willRead More
Bank Innovation
#Swisscom has announced the ten startups selected to pitch on August 16, #2016 as part of its #StartUp #Challenge 2016.
Each year, the Swisscom StartUp Challenge, a business accelerator program organized in cooperation with venturelab, rewards five startups that are trying to get their ideas off the ground. These startups get a trip to Silicon Valley for a tailor-made acceleration program, mentoring with Swisscom Venture, investors and business angels, and get evaluated for an investment by Swisscom Ventures.
The ten startups, selected among over 200 applications from ventures tackling IT and telecommunication, #fintech, e-commerce, adtech, big data, Internet of Things, among many other areas, will have to prove themselves in August during a pitch day at the campus of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
The five best startups will be selected out of the ten teams and will fly to Silicon Valley in September/October 2016 to continue their journey in the program.
Previous winners of the Swisscom StartUp Challenge include Monetas, CashSentinel, among many others.
This year’s ten selected startups are:
Launched by three former Google employees, Advanon allows SMEs to prefinance their outstanding invoices easily, quickly and transparently.
Based in Zurich, Advanon is the leading invoice financing platform in Switzerland.
Lykke is building a global marketplace for all asset classes and instruments. Powered by #blockchain #technology, the online marketplace offers immediate settlement of transactions and much lower transaction costs.
Qumram provides a solution that allows for every digital interaction (web, social and mobile) to be recorded, providing a digital audit trail for financial services organizations.
Qumram has created a single source of truth, recording indisputable proof of every keystroke, button click or mouse movement.
Xorlab is a cybersecurity company that develops and provides dynamic IT security products and services for businesses.
Xorlab has developed software for the early detection and prevention of client-side attacks, including spear phishing and drive-by infections.
Qipp is a web application that enables property managers and owners to bundle digital services and enhance the relationships between owners, managers and tenants.
The app allows for interaction between all involved parties, allowing for efficiency, value-added services, smart services and community-oriented micro-apps.
Xsensio has developed a wearable that uses biochemical information on the surface of our skin to provide real-time information about our state of health and well-being.
Xsensio is based on nanotechnology that exploits information from proteins, molecules and electrolytes on the skin surface.
Biowatch has developed a vein reading biometric wristwatch that recognizes its wearer from the pattern of their veins and therefore provides clear, secure authentication.
Through bluetooth and NFC, the watch enables users to make online payments, unlock their car, automatically log into their accounts or access buildings.
CatchEye has developed a video conferencing add-on that enhances video chat picture quality on Skype, Hangouts, Vidyo, Zoom and others, and enables participants to make eye contact. CatchEye works with Intel RealSense 3D camera.
Fashwell is a fashion-tech startup that has developed an app that allows users to find and buy fashion products online thanks to an image analysis algorithm based on machine learning. The app identifies fashion items and provides a dynamic linking of these items to online shops.
Fashwell has already raised over US$ 1 million in equity funding.
Nanolive is a new type of technology that enables scientists to conduct 3D microscope-based exploration of living cells without damaging #them.
The 3D Cell Explorer is a high-speed, high resolution and non-invasive tool that can look deep inside biological systems.
Featured image via Swisscom.ch.
The post Swisscom Announces 10 (Fintech) Finalists of StartUp Challenge 2016; 4 of them are Fintechs appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Nexussquared&8217;s first edition of nexuslab, a virtual #blockchain #startup #program co-organized with Startupbootcamp #Fintech, is coming to its end. On July 07, 2016, the nexuslab Festival will mark the #grand #finale of nexuslab’s #inaugural #batch, a one-day event that will feature a series of short pitch talks of the startups it helped nurture, as well as a number of presentations on current blockchain innovations.
#Nexussquared, a Zurich-based company dedicated to “establish Switzerland as a nexus for blockchain #technology,” made headlines last year when it announced the world&8217;s very first virtual blockchain startup accelerator program.
Designed to facilitate tailored coaching and &8220;inspired by the blockchain paradigms of decentralization, trust and efficiency,&8221; the rather unconventional three-month program – dubbed Nexuslab &8211; aims at turning promising early-stage blockchain ideas and startups into &8220;winning business models.&8221;
Among the ten startups that joined nexuslab&8217;s first batch in April 2016, eight will be presenting in Zurich at the nexuslab Festival finale:
Agrello (ProofofYou) provides an Ethereum-based platform for creating, signing, fulfilling and managing contracts and legal documents. Digital signatures are legally verifiable through a browser-based signature verification process and legal documents can communicate to each other and are capable of monitoring and notifying about changes in the process and the dynamics of the execution of contracts.
The company, based in Estonia, seeks to simplify legally and administratively intensive business processes.
Doqum.io
is a peer-to-peer communication system that allows providers to send digital documents securely and conveniently to their clients. Doqum.io, a Swiss startup, uses blockchain technology for document-tracking and user authentication.
First Wallet, an Estonian startup, provides a payment method for content providers to sell articles without signup. First Wallet uses a blockchain-based micropayments system that allows to reduce transaction fees and enable 1 click opt-in and 0 click purchases backed by carrier billing.
Paymeabit
provides &8220;nanotransactions&8221; in #bitcoin aimed at changing how online content get rewarded by allowing users to tip very small amounts. Users can also sell their content. Paymeabit, an Italian startup, aims at facilitating the monetization of online content.
Safe Bike
is an application that lets users register their bicycles on the blockchain at the point of initial purchase to build a global, immutable register of ownership. Safe Bike, a service of German company Yope, allows bikes to be tagged via NFC tag and provides a universal way for accessing information using the Ethereum blockchain.
Taqanu Bank
provides basic blockchain-based banking services including debit cards and checking accounts aimed at people who don&8217;t have a fixed address such as migrants, refugees, expatriates and remote workers. This neo-bank, based in Norway, will solely operate online via apps on mobile platforms. KYC information will be stored on the blockchain.
Wone, from Finland, provides an interoperable peer-to-peer mobile payment solution throughout Europe. Wone uses a standardized proxy lookup service that harmonizes mobile payments within the SEPA area, allowing for Pan-European interoperability in peer-to-peer payments.
Zeptagram, a startup from Sweden, is planning to establish a platform for traders and investors worldwide for the trading of music properties. The platform will act as a transparent Internet exchange with real-time trading and transparent order books supported by blockchain technology.
Alongside the pitch talks, nexuslab Festival will also feature a number of renowned speakers who will be covering emerging trends in blockchain technology.
These include:
Bernd Lapp
Member of the Ethereum Foundation Advisory Board, who will speak about how blockchain technology is changing current business models.
Roel Steenbergen
Innovation Manager at Rabobank, who will tackle the future of banking and emerging fintech trends
Fabian Vogelsteller
Ethereum Lead Ðapp Developer & Curator of “The DAO,” who will give a keynote on The DAO
Nexuslab Festival will take place at Kaufleuten Festsaal in Zurich, starting from 12:45pm to 6:30pm.
You can get your free ticket here.
The post Nexussquared Announces Grand Finale for Blockchain Startup Program Inaugural Batch appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
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