We are excited to see further development in the Fusion Fintech and WealthTech hub: Fusion and Saxo Bank announced a partnership to open Fusion eXtended Fintech in Geneva.
In the scope of this relationship, Saxo provides office space and mentoring to Fusion Fellows from the previous years of the Acceleration programs (2015 and 2016). As such, these entrepreneurs not only would benefit from prime office space in the center of Geneva but also the ability to continue co-working with fellow entrepreneurs of the Fusion community.
“We are excited by this partnership opportunity which gives Fusion startups additional long term value by joining the Fusion Fellowship and reinforces the quality of the network and its potential synergies. Fusion startups get even stronger value long term by joining the Fusion Fellowship. It also further helps us foster Geneva as a fintech and wealthtech hub”, says Sal Matteis, CEO of Fusion.
Fintech Fusion Demoday
Congratulations to Fintech Fusion team for Fusion Demo Day and fostering innovation in Geneva!
Sal Matteis and Jon Bradford, talking under the stars
Fintech FUSION, hosted its Annual Demoday at the Fer Geneva. With over 300 people in attendance the startups from the Class of 2016-2017 presented their achievements midway into the programme. FUSION also announced the opening of 3 new vertical accelerators and of its San Francisco office in partnership with Polytech Ventures.
After 4 months of intensive mentorship, insightful workshops, pivoting, hard work and acceleration, the startups were ready to pitch in a room full of Investors, senior corporate executives, Academia, Mentors & members of the Press.
On the 12th of October, 8 top-class startups started their accelerator journey after being selected out of 300+ applications from over 40 countries around the world. France, UK, UKRAINE, Romania, Switzerland, Czech Republic are represented in the final line up. Guided by the pool of top-level mentors, they have worked tirelessly to become world-class companies and shake the Fintech industry with their successes. The FUSION team has worked together with their key partners (Temenos, BNP Paribas, Swisscard & Notz Stucki) to enable the startups and create strong synergies with corporations & develop POCs.
But Fintech Fusion also expands beyond fintech to lifetech, proptech & social entrepreneurship!
FUSION is Launching 3 New Vertical Accelerators which will be added to the already existing and leading Fintech Accelerator – Fintech Fusion (voted in the Top 10 in Europe).
FUSION Launches PropTech Fusion
Together with Investis as Founding Partner, FUSION is launching a Vertical Accelerator in PropTech to lead Digital Transformation in Real Estate. PropTech FUSION is the first PropTech accelerator in Switzerland and set to be a leading PropTech accelerator on a global basis. Switzerland has one of the strongest Real Estate markets on the planet. However things will change rapidly. We believe the country can be the right epicenter for Real Estate oriented innovation for the next 15 years.
Says Sal Matteis – CEO at FUSION
Sal Matteis, CEO and Managing Partner at FUSION
Investis is a leading residential property company in the Lake Geneva region as well as a national realestate services provider and set to be on the front seat for the digital transformation of real estate.
Together FUSION and Investis will be bringing new partners to the accelerator and startup recruiting the first batch of Startups starting from March 22nd.
Pre-registrations will be open on www.proptechfusion.ch
FUSION Launches LifeTech Fusion: The first Lifetech-focused accelerator in the World.
Together with one of the leading Insurances in Switzerland as Founding Partner, FUSION is launching the first LifeTech accelerator in the World based in Switzerland to focus on technologies that bring innovations in the areas of digital health, IOT, wearables, Personal Data Analysis & Mgmt, Biometrics, Machine Learning, Genomics and NanoTech. Lifetech & IOT are digital technologies which – via direct and continued interaction with individuals – enable betterment and extension of life. LifeTechs open up unparalleled opportunities for Health, Nutrition, Medical, Wellness, Fitness and Insurance providers to deliver new products & services that impact life.
Says Sal Matteis – CEO at FUSION
Over the coming months FUSION will be bringing additional partners to join our lifetech acceleratorecosystem and recruiting the first batch of Startups from all over the world starting from March 22nd.
FUSION Launches Global Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator right in the heart of Geneva.
Geneva’s international pedigree and recognized hub for NGOs made it a perfect fit to foster social
entrepreneurial startups combining the key components of an accelerator with the social impact objectives.
Says Sal Matteis – CEO at FUSION
Entrepreneurship is at the core of positive change. Over the past 100 years we have seen an incredible improvement in quality of life and society thanks to innovation and the power of technology.
We expect to see a remarkable and positive change occur over the next 10 years that will re-shapepositively life in many countries and under-served segments of society NGOs and current international bodies do as much as they can to support missions to improve life conditions but often fall short of expectations as their legacy systems and infrastructure were not built for the world we live in today. At FUSION we believe it is time to reshape the model and leverage the power of technology to make positive impact by supercharging social entrepreneurs.
Fintech Fusion’s global DEMO DAY
Fintech Fusion ‘s global DEMO DAY is just a few weeks away! Get ready for a memorable day!
Fusion – the first-ever FinTech business incubator in Switzerland – exists to shape innovation in financial services by combining up-and-coming tech talent with Swiss state-of-the-art financial know-how. As a Fusion member, Notz Stucki is actively involved in the incubation process.
The aim of Fusion is to create a thriving ecosystem of FinTech startups, which will boost and reinforce Switzerland’s reputation as a financial hub. Unlike most accelerators, Fusion takes no upfront equity stake in startups it accelerates. Fusion’s unique multi-sector and multi-partner approach, brings together a broad group of stakeholders: corporate members (Temenos, Notz Stucki, Swisscard and BNP Paribas); resource partners (Capco, id est avocats, Kudelski Security); and academic partners (IDIAP, Heig-VD and HEG Genève).
The second batch of start-ups were officially welcomed at Fusion by Sal Matteis, the new CEO of the accelerator, last October 5th.
Here is the 2016-2017 batch:
Based on last advances in Behavioural Finance is a MiFIDII-compliant customer risk profiler for financial advisors.The first user-guiding wealth management market place.RegTech company providing banks with digitized regulatory smart rules and data for cross-border banking.The Swiss Crowdfunding platform providing millions of people access to real estate invesments.Cloud Based Process Engine with drag and drop editor.Providing banking services to SMEs who want to optimize currency streams by reducing cost, time and improving execution experience.We help banks digitalize their process by enabling them to sign documents or get client’s signature online.Younify helps retail and private banks with smart modules to transform e-banking: smarter, simpler and tuned to real customer needs.
Needless to say we are very excited about Fusion’s Annual Demoday!
Reserve your VIP pass for free and avoid being left out. Only a few tickets are available!
7 questions to a start-up: Biowatch
Fusion – the first-ever FinTech business incubator in Switzerland – exists to shape innovation in financial services by combining up-and-coming tech talent with Swiss state-of-the-art financial know-how. As a Fusion member, Notz Stucki is actively involved in the incubation process.
Discover our series “7 questions to a start-up” to get a feeling of who are the participants of the incubator!
7 questions to Matthias Vanoni and Joe Rice, founders and managing partners of Biowatch
Biowatch SA is a Swiss startup incorporated on February 2015. It combines three very fast growing markets: Biometrics, Wearables and Internet of Things (IoT). What is the result? A wearable electronic biometric module that enables individuals and industries worldwide to connect securely, instantly, and seamlessly. Just add the Biowatch buckle to your existing watch, smartband or smartwatch, and it will identify you thanks to the uniqueness of your wrist vein pattern.
1/ Who are you?
Matthias Vanoni, 30 years old. I am the co-founder and CEO of Biowatch SA, and co-inventor of new patents protecting the Biowatch product. As a former PhD student on vein biometrics at Idiap Biometric Lab, at EPFL, I have a 10-year background in biometrics. If we look further back, I attended the Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, a French military academy, and then joined as a lieutenant the Gendarmerie Nationale during 6 years. Joe Rice, 67 years old. I am the co-founder and chairman of Biowatch SA, and co-inventor of new patents protecting the Biowatch product. If we look back in the 80’s, I worked at Kodak during 30 years in the UK. In 1985, I invented the vein pattern biometric by patenting this technology, after my bank and credit cards were stolen and fraudulently used.
Joe Rice & Matthias Vanoni
2/ What does your company do?
Biowatch SA transforms your watch into a secure source of identification using the unique pattern of your veins. It replaces your keys, cards, passwords and PIN numbers, without the need to acquire a new wearable. Once activated by the legitimate user, this smart module allows non-stop authentication as long as the device is on your wrist thanks to NFC / Bluetooth technology. On a typical day, you are able to unlock your car, to access to your office, or purchase goods and services online, by being connected securely, instantly, and seamlessly. This Swiss innovation mainly responds to big issues encountered by industries such as banking, access control and watches (security and luxury).
3/ What’s the founding story behind Biowatch?
Back in July 2014, when Matthias was still a PhD student working on vein biometrics, he came across with Joseph Rice’s research, and namely with a particular patent. It was actually about vein pattern and the capability of authenticating an individual thanks to this unique human feature. Convinced by this finding and its development and commercial potential, Matthias, located in Switzerland, decided to contact Joe directly who was living in the UK. He suggested him to collaborating together in order to move further along and eventually establish Biowatch SA. That was the beginning of a great adventure …
4/ What was your proudest moment in your company’s history so far?
Apart from having convinced major players in the automotive, banking or access control industries which we work with, we just reached a first financial closure on October. We were able to raise CHF 1.2 million for the development of our Biowatch module. That is a big success for the startup in order to go further.
5/ What’s the vision behind Biowatch?
Biowatch SA envisions a world where humans and technology interact without constraints and without fearing security issues: a once a day authentication process for accessing various use cases, all day long, without demanding any effort from the customer. Our mission is to provide the world’s first wearable wrist vein authentication solution to industries worldwide.
6/ What’s your biggest challenge right now?
Our biggest challenge right now is to find the right talents to grow our team of engineers.
7/ Is there any inspirational saying or words of encouragement you want to share with other creative/disruptive professionals?
You just need to be 100% convinced by your idea and believe in your revolutionary concept.
Fintech Fusion – the Swiss Fintech Innovation Platform – completed its first 12 month Accelerator in October.
We are delighted to announce the results achieved:
1 startup grew its turnover from 0 to several millions within 6 months
1 startup was spotted by an internet giant and in discussion for a potential acquisition
6 startups were able to push “Proof of concept” in the market and/or were able to bring on board their first clients thanks to the Fusion Network
3 startups were able to raise funds and one more is on its way to closing a seed round
All of the startups greatly benefited from the visibility provided by Fusion, the value added and the network of mentors & partners.
The aim of Fusion is to create a thriving ecosystem of FinTech startups, which will boost and reinforce Switzerland’s reputation as a financial hub. Unlike most accelerators, Fusion takes no upfront equity stake in startups it accelerates. Fusion’s unique multi-sector and multi-partner approach, brings together a broad group of stakeholders: corporate members (Temenos, Notz Stucki, Swisscard and BNP Paribas); resource partners (Capco, id est avocats, Kudelski Security); and academic partners (IDIAP, Heig-VD and HEG Genève).
Needless to say we are very excited about the second program, which has just kicked off!
7 questions to a start-up: Investivity
Fusion – the first-ever FinTech business incubator in Switzerland – exists to shape innovation in financial services by combining up-and-coming tech talent with Swiss state-of-the-art financial know-how. As a Fusion member, Notz Stucki is actively involved in the incubation process.
Discover our series “7 questions to a start-up” to get a feeling of who are the participants of the incubator!
7 questions to Eric Thuillier and Aurélien Clarisse, founders and managing partners of Investivity
Investivity is an investment management company based in Geneva, managing and advising the assets of institutional and private clients through configurable style premia strategies run on a proprietary integrated platform.
Our goal is to democratize the adoption of institutional grade portfolio management, risk management and strategies to deliver risk-adjusted performance and personalization in the most cost-effective way.
1/ Who are you?
We are Eric Thuillier and Aurélien Clarisse, founders and managing partners of Investivity.
Eric Thuillier & Aurélien Clarisse
2/ What does your company do?
We augment the investing processes of investors while remaining truthful to their own convictions and market views, and we address by so doing different types of clients.
We first offer services to advisers, independent asset managers and family offices to help them manage client portfolios, similar in spirit to so called discretionary fund managers in the UK.
We manage as well direct mandates for private clients through an active/“alpha” oriented robo-advisor with approaches that are relevant not only for mass affluent people but also for HNWI.
We act as investment advisors of actively managed certificates (iPremia range) packaging our approach.
Finally, we also partner on specific ad hoc projects related to investing, distribution or technology with larger banks and institutional investors.
Our portfolio of strategies involve multiple style premia allocated into dynamically which implement a non-benchmarked multi-asset approach with ETFs and futures. Our generic risk and asset allocation framework is extensible as well to other liquid underlyings and funds.
3/ What’s the founding story behind Investivity?
Eighteen months ago, we were both futures traders in Geneva (at a large hedge fund and a proprietary trading group). We knew wealth managers all around us were undergoing important changes and were struggling with a new regulatory and market environment. In that difficult and changing context, we figured out we could create a lot of value for them by adapting our investing and technological expertise acquired on the institutional side.
Fast forward to today, we are building our dream: institutional grade strategies and risk management with an interactive and digital “remote control” layer on top of them for professional investors to monitor and customize how the money gets invested.
4/ What was your proudest moment in your company’s history so far?
One repeated moment we are quite proud of is to see so many people with very strong experience reaching out to us spontaneously with a willingness to hop on either to give us advice and ideas or to join us.
5/ What’s the vision behind Investivity?
The experience of asset management and wealth management will radically change in the next five to ten years. Active/“alpha” oriented robo-advisors are just starting to emerge in the US, and are about to drastically change the way people allocate to active funds. We are one of the first and only European players in that new field.
Our vision is to offer to investors robust model-driven strategies in an affordable way, and give them the ability to interact, customize the allocation and imprint their own market views, if they wish so.
6/ What’s your biggest challenge right now?
As a young company with a lean approach, we have to adjust our development to the long sales cycles we experience in Europe and especially Switzerland, our home market.
7/ Is there any inspirational saying or words of encouragement you want to share with other creative/disruptive professionals?
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall (Confucius).
The Fintech Fusion Demo Day took place on September 7th 2016, concluding the first year of the Fintech acceleration program in Switzerland.
And we can say with enthusiasm that the start ups presented in a very professional and convincing manner their company and solutions to business angels, corporate investors and venture capitalists. We had the impression that we were in a TED conference or an Apple Keynote!
All these entrepreneurs have a vision, strong technical skills and great motivation. And dreams! And this day was not only the occasion to celebrate a group of entrepreneurs by recognizing their achievements to date but also an opportunity to make their dreams come true.
This is certainly one goal of the Fintech 12-month acceleration program. As Guillaume Dubray, Founder of this incubator, mentioned in his welcome word: “acceleration is a hard work where start ups must show determination and commitment, acceleration is all about building better products, validating customer interest and accepting to make changes when things do not work. It is about sharpening the business proposition, learning how to pitch well and convincing buying interests”.
What we can bring home from that Demo Day ?
First, solutions are being developed and offered by innovating companies. All these people are participating to the reshaping of the asset management and banking industry.
Second, we start feeling that the advisory services are being redefined to a more collaborative approach and closer relationship between the providers and the customers. Not only do we see solutions that facilitate the profiling of clients’ needs but also a willingness to democratise offerings that were offered so far only to high net worth individuals.
Third, these start ups are positioned in the B2B segment and target to help traditional actors to improve their processes by evolving from artisanal and subjective tasks to accurate, automated and objective processes. This is called digital efficiency or, in other terms: faster, better and less expensive.
Fourth, without any surprise, a lot of solutions are related to big data. These aim to increase portfolio management facilities by enabling deeper and broader analyses of investment universe when it comes to build or to monitor clients’ assets.
Technology seems to be magic but it has to remain built on core competences, understanding of clients’ needs and commitments to quality. We still need all these ingredients to build and maintain trust and long term relationships with clients.
@ to all the entrepreneurs participating to the Fusion Program : make your dreams come true ! Find the right partner and let’s make Switzerland a strong and successful financial center.
Fusion startups selection for year 2: behind the scene
In early April, Fusion opened applications for startups who wish to participate in the acceleration program for 2016-2017. “Fusion season 2” is coming up!
The startups selected for the 2015-2016 twelve months program will leave Fusion in September. Right onwards startups for the second batch will follow in early October for a very intensive first 3 months full-time onsite in Geneva.
After opening the applications in April, Sébastien Flury, the program director, and Guillaume Dubray, the founder of Fusion, went through a first scan of all the files received, making sure the candidates fulfilled the list of criteria required to apply. Among these, the applicants must:
be active in wealth management, asset management, insurance, commodities trading – Switzerland’s areas of expertise
focus on cyber security, data privacy, blockchain, asset, wealth management
present a clear execution plan
be incorporated in a safe jurisdiction
be hunger for success!
Applicants were offered the opportunity to attend a webinar in early June for a detailed Q&A on the program and the selection process.
The applicants who had passed this preliminary screening were invited to a first round of 15 minutes Skype interview with Sébastien and Guillaume. They were given 10 minutes to present their idea and team, followed by a 5 minutes Q&A. Over 50 startups have been interviewed!
The selected short list of finalists were then invited to a second round of interview with the corporate members, under the same format but in a more structured way (for example, following Guy Kawasaki’s “Art of Pitch” tips) – this is where we step in!
Last week, BNP Paribas (Kim Potvin and Benoît Ratier), Swisscard (Markus Feller), Temenos (Ben Robinson), Notz Stucki (Antonio Mira and Amélie Janssens) all met with Sébastien and Guillaume for this final round of (marathon) interviews. 23 startups over 2 afternoons, the agenda was tight – but Swiss timing was respected all over!
Fusion startups selection meeting room
A week before, we had received the profiles of the startups, their decks and a one-pager on each. After each 15 minutes Skype interview, we had 5 minutes to individually complete a form to evaluate on a scale from 1 to 5 the team, the opportunity, the business model, the stage of development of the company and the fit with Fusion’s members.
A few days later, Sébastien sent us the combined scores obtained by each candidate based on the members’ evaluations.
We had a final meeting all together last week to finalize the list of the selected participants.
The consensus over the first 7 startups was almost a no-brainer, and after some discussions around the last 3 names to be selected, we rapidly came up with our final list of participants. We ended-up with a quick debriefing lunch altogether (startup-like: take away pizza at Fusion’s open space!).
Overall, we appreciated the high level of professionalism of the interviewed startups. The pitches were well prepared, the business models made clear and the quality of the teams quite impressive. There is a lot to learn here…
At Notz Stucki, we observed a few tendencies:
blockchain is becoming more concrete, through specific, targeted applications
the notion of robo-advisor is developing: we are now not just talking about algorithms but rather about how artificial intelligence as a whole can help improve business decisions
there are more startups in the field of data security – a hot topic for Switzerland
some innovative solutions are picking up in the areas of investment suitability, distribution, and smart KYC
At the time of writing this post, the final decisions have been communicated to the short listed participants.
Needless to say we are very much looking forward to welcoming the 2016-2017 selection at Fusion!
7 questions to a start-up: IBT.TECH
Fusion – the first-ever FinTech business incubator in Switzerland – exists to shape innovation in financial services by combining up-and-coming tech talent with Swiss state-of-the-art financial know-how. As a Fusion member, Notz Stucki is actively involved in the incubation process.
Discover our series “7 questions to a start-up” to get a feeling of who are the participants of the incubator!
7 questions to Hans Sturkenboom, founder and CEO of IBT.tech
Ibt.tech offers online contract authentication based on blockchain technology: in this way anyone can register and authenticate valuable documents without exposing the sensitive data.
TRADITIONAL AUTHENTICATION:
MANUALLY DONE BY HAND,
TAKES HOURS TO DAYS.
AVERAGE EUR: €350,-
VS
BLOCKCHAIN AUTHENTICATION: ONLINE,
WORLDWIDE
WITHIN SECONDS.
Starting at € 1,25
Hans Sturkenboom, Founder & CEO
1/ Who are you?
Hans Sturkenboom, living near Amsterdam, father of identical twins.
2/ What does your company do?
We offer an entrance and exit to any blockchain for online authentication of valuable documents.
3/ What’s the founding story behind IBT.tech?
I missed out on the internet explosion. The invention of blockchain protocol is similar to the invention of the internet protocol. I want to be part of such a huge innovation in technology.
4/ What was your proudest moment in your company’s history so far?
Seeing the aha moment at a public notary of 64 years old. “Wow, should have had that before!”
5/ What’s the vision behind IBT.tech?
Exponential growth through strategic collaboration. Don’t fill the database yourself as a company, let the users fill it.
6/ What’s your biggest challenge right now?
Getting from pilots to recurring sales.
7/ Is there any inspirational saying or words of encouragement you want to share with other creative/disruptive professionals?
Nobody cares about a protocol, it is the usecase that make it valuable.
