The FinTech Five on Friday – Foundry Special
23 April, 2021
Each Friday the FinTech Five focuses on the giddy highs of another working week in Welsh financial technology. This week, however, we thought we would take the opportunity to wax lyrical about our latest innovation initiative – the FinTech Wales Foundry – and what it could mean for deals, jobs, and investment in the sector.
What is the FinTech Wales Foundry?
The Foundry is a 12-week accelerator programme that pairs ingenious FinTech ideas to Wales’ leading organisations with the ultimate objective of signing a deal. Those selected to join the accelerator do so at no cost and forfeit no equity in their business.
Instead, they receive mentorship, perks and resources from a growing number of supporting organisations to assist them in their efforts. The majority of the programme will operate virtually, but founders able to reach Cardiff will have access to free deskspace for the duration of the accelerator courtesy of the very fine folk at Tramshed Tech.
Who is backing it?
The founding partners include Principality Building Society, Admiral Pioneer, and Cardiff Capital Region. So far the accelerator is supported by the likes of Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Stripe, IBM, Deloitte, Capital Law, Tramshed Tech, EY, Salesforce, SeedLegals, Hubspot, Cardiff University, GlobalWelsh, Twilio, Consilium, BGF, Angels Invest Wales, Cardiff Council, Innovate UK and the Welsh Government.
What can founders expect out of the programme?
We’ve designed the accelerator programme so founders can extract maximum value with minimum distractions. A typical week in the Foundry consists of three 2-hour workshops tailored around their needs, a touchpoint with the programme manager, and an update to Foundry partners. The rest of the time you are encouraged to work on securing your deal. As well as access to a growing number of legal, technical and industry experts free of charge, founders also receive tens of thousands of pounds worth of free credits from various platform providers.
What are the key dates to look out for?
The application deadline is Monday 7th June while the accelerator programme officially launches on Monday 5th July. Investor day, where founders privately pitch to a select crowd of local angel investors and international VC firms, is Friday 13th August. Demo day, where we announce the impact of the 12-weeks acceleration, is on Friday 24th September.
What is the application process?
The Foundry is open to everyone – from established, international FinTech providers looking to establish a presence in the UK to individuals working on an MVP in their garage in Wrexham. Interested parties should head to www.fintechwalesfoundry.org and complete their application to be considered for interviews in early June.
Those with comments, questions, or just curious to hear more about the programme can reach out to us at [email protected].