Nedbank, one of the largest banks in South Africa, has teamed up with the LaunchLab, a network of African university campus-based business incubators, in an exciting innovation challenge.
This partnership will be driven by the LaunchLab’s breakthrough innovation platform to capture new ideas and business models that may be the next disruptive innovation in the banking industry. This includes the LaunchLab’s Ideas and Lift-Off Programmes, which allow corporates access to external breakthrough innovations in their industry.
A two-hour workshop was held on 16 August 2016 at the Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab where participants had an opportunity to engage with the LaunchLab and Nedbank teams, as well as to connect with other aspiring Fintech entrepreneurs. Attending this workshop helped participants to better understand the challenge, stimulated their thinking and provided clarity about the value of their ideas.
The workshop will be followed by the Pitching Platform, where a panel of judges will look for pitches with business potential that could be the next breakthrough Fintech and Big Data idea. The pitches will be made in the form of a three-minute video.
The videos can be recorded in-person at the LaunchLab’s various campuses in the Western Cape, or submitted online at the following link: http://www.launchlab.co.za/Nedbank. Entrants may pitch more than one idea, but only one idea can win.
Winning ideas stand a chance to win a share of R80 000 in seed funding and LaunchLab incubation support for six months to launch and develop their business ideas. This support will include workspace, Internet access, portfolio management and mentorship. Nedbank will be carefully monitoring the development of these business ideas during this time to gauge their potential and see if they can add value to Nedbank’s services.
“Nedbank has already benefited from various collaborations with residents of the LaunchLab and because of this the bank has decided to pose a challenge to our unique community in order to undercover more disruptive ideas which could change the future of banking in Africa,” says Brandon Paschal, LaunchLab’s Operational Manager.
“We are encouraged by the depth of exciting ideas and entrepreneurs we engage with through the LaunchLab. Most importantly, the fast-growing traction of Fintechs and usage of Big Data intelligence gives us a great sense of comfort that South Africa is firmly poised not just to participate in the global innovation arena – but to lead it,” Chris Wood: Executive Head of Emerging Payments, Strategy and Regulatory at Nedbank.
The Fintech and Big Data industry has seen a great deal of disruption due to new technologies and changing banking behaviour in Africa. Nedbank has identified the need to tap into these breakthrough innovations to find new ways of using mobile technology to further promote financial inclusion, enhance client experiences using connected devices and find innovative methods to on-board and activate new clients.
Nedbank’s partnership with the LaunchLab enables access to these disruptive innovations. The LaunchLab provides a link to a unique community of campus-based entrepreneurs as well as an environment where start-ups can test new technologies and business models without corporate restrictions. The Fintech and Big Data Ideas programme extends across all universities in the Western Cape, tapping into student and non-student entrepreneurs as well as communities of innovative thinkers and creators.
Interested entrepreneurs and innovators can find more details about the Pitching Platform on the breakthrough innovation section on our website: http://www.launchlab.co.za/nedbank
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