Barclays Helps Deliver Breakthrough Innovations in FinTech with New York Accelerator Program

After three months of intensive product development, mentoring and networking, nine companies will today showcase their innovative FinTech propositions at a demo day in New York. Barclays has taken an equity investment as part of the program in each of the participating companies.

The demo day marks the culmination of the third New York cohort of the Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars - a leader in the venture capital and accelerator space. With over 5,000 applications across 11 cohorts, the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, has become the largest single-bank-powered portfolio globally.

The nine companies that comprise the current New York cohort are driving innovation in new age banking, alternative investments and corporate bonds amongst other new business propositions. Leveraging the vast resources of Barclays and Techstars, these companies are empowered to shape the future of financial services.

“It’s exciting to witness the progress and growth these companies have achieved over the course of our intensive 13 week program,” said John Stecher, Group Head of Innovation, Barclays. “Each has developed their business model, many are rapidly growing their teams, and all have defined their unique market fit. Barclays is devoted to these companies as long-term investments and is committed to providing each set of founders with a partner to help them navigate as they grow and mature their businesses.”

Across a series of demo day events, more than 500 industry leaders, entrepreneurs, senior executives and corporate partners will attend presentations from the nine companies. Each of the companies will share their propositions on how they are shaping the future of financial services, and outline the progress they have made over the 13 weeks since the start of the program.

The companies from the current Accelerator cohort have engaged with a variety of Barclays' businesses to investigate the implementation of new technologies. For example, the following companies are engaged with the Corporate and Investment Bank:

• Barclays’ FIG LatAm Corporate Banking team is supporting Sigma Ratings in making key introductions to entities in the emerging markets space, as well as providing Sigma Ratings with access to conferences and speaking engagements to elevate industry visibility.
• Barclays’ Credit business is supporting 7Chord with product analysis to identify use cases for their predictive pricing and alpha signals tool. 7Chord plans to launch a beta version of their predictive bond pricing tool on a credit trading desk for evaluation and feedback.

“Thanks to the networks of both Barclays and Techstars we have been introduced to leaders and practitioners across many different sectors of the financial services industry,” said Gabrielle Haddad, Chief Operating Officer, Sigma Ratings. “Barclays has helped us refine our products and gain market adoption. Our experience has positioned us to truly scale in 2018.”

More information on the Barclays Accelerator can be found at barclaysaccelerator.com.

The nine companies of the 2018 New York cohort of the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars, are:

7Chord – Predictive analytics for credit traders, powered by AI technology

Bild – Investing platform for sustainable assets focused on smart infrastructure & renewable energy.

Cogni – Provides banking services for the gig and freelancer economy.

Novo – A banking platform built for emerging businesses that saves them time and money.

Pathspark – Empowers companies to invest in human capital with performance analytics powered by coaching insights.

Qanta – Makes customer acquisition in financial products drastically more cost effective, leveraging proprietary AI.

RealBlocks – Enables anyone in the world to raise or invest capital in real estate using Blockchain Smart-Contracts.

Sigma Ratings – The world’s first AI-enabled non-credit risk rating agency.

Synswap – Provides post-trade services for OTC derivatives using distributed ledger technology.

About Barclays

Barclays is a transatlantic consumer and wholesale bank with global reach, offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management, with a strong presence in our two home markets of the UK and the US. With over 325 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 40 countries and employs approximately 85,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide.

About Techstars

Techstars helps entrepreneurs succeed. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Startup Programs, Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs, Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships, and the Techstars Venture Capital Fund. Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Programs help founders do more faster and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in the most innovative and disruptive Techstars companies to fuel their success. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships helps brands supercharge growth by accelerating innovation and cultural transformation. Techstars accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $9.6 billion. www.techstars.com

This press release does not constitute nor does it form part of an offer to sell or purchase, or the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase, any securities or any of the businesses or assets described herein.

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