Top fintech accelerators in 2024

If you're a startup looking to join a fintech accelerator program or get more information, you can find more information on our startup page, which has resources specifically tailored to a startup audience. 

If you work for a corporate and are considering partnering or investing in a fintech accelerator, you may have come across the following challenges when looking for fintech accelerators: 

• You’re looking for an accelerator that is fintech specific, but there are barely any. Few accelerators specialise in fintech.
• It’s hard to find up to date information on incubators. There are many lists, but some incubators are not even incubators anymore.
• You want to use an accelerator to invest directly in a startup or collaborate with a startup but it is risky and it is difficult to predict the ROI. 
• You feel out the loop and want to get close to innovative startups in the fintech industry. 

At Tenity, we specialise in putting together fintech startup accelerators for corporates and helping corporates innovate by partnering with startups. In this article, I’ve put together a list of some of the top accelerators broken down by category, along with some more information about what it’s like to work with Tenity as a corporate.

1. Top fintech accelerators

a) Fintech Focus

b) Venture Capital Focus

c) Open Innovation Focus 

d) Regional Focus

2. Why work with Tenity as a corporate?

3. What is included in a Tenity fintech accelerator?

4. What to look out for when working with a fintech accelerator as a corporate

Note: At Tenity, we specialise in running startup accelerators for the fintech industry. We’ve worked with companies like Julius Baer, SIX and Ripple to set up corporate accelerator programs for fostering corporate innovation. Get in touch with us to learn more. 

Top fintech accelerators 

Read more about our upcoming startup programs for fintech startups: 

• Zurich Pre-Seed Incubator Batch 13. August to December 2024
• Singapore Pre-Seed Incubator Batch 8. August to December 2024‍
• Nordics Pre-Seed Incubator. August to December 2024
• Digital Health Incubator. June to October 2024
• Raise the Bär: BJB Global Student Innovation Program
• XRPL Accelerator - Launch Program. April to June 2024

There are currently over 200 accelerators in Europe alone – but only a couple focus on fintech exclusively. Most startup accelerators you encounter will be sector agnostic. 

The main drawback of partnering sector-agnostic accelerators is that you will have a more limited access to fintech companies. These accelerators might not always include fintech companies, and might not have as extensive a network. 

I’ve divided up the list of top fintech accelerators into various categories in order to give more detail on the different type of accelerators. : 

Fintech-specific startup accelerators: 

Tenity: startup ecosystem focused on fintech 

Since I work for Tenity, it makes sense to start with ourselves first.

Tenity was founded in 2015 as a ‘spin off’ of SIX, the Swiss stock exchange. We have since become independent but thanks to our history and experience, have very deep knowledge on how corporate innovation actually works. Via our corporate accelerators and other services, we have supported corporates including Julius Baer, UBS and SIX with innovation by helping them partner with companies like Vestr, Deedster and RELIO.

Here’s what makes it worth it for corporates to work with Tenity:

We specialise in fintech, which means you’ll work with experts who know your needs 

Not all accelerators specialise in the fintech sector. Fintech has been Tenity’s focus from day one. 

By narrowing our focus to fintech, we have built a strong ecosystem of industry professionals, corporate partners, startups and mentors who can help corporates and startups navigate the fast-moving fintech space. Here is a look inside our ecosystem: 

• 200+ mentors in fintech ready to share their knowledge and insights. 
• Proprietary database of over 2,000+ fintech companies.
• 2,500+ startup applications that are fintech-only. 
• 270 startups that have graduated from our programs.
• $370M that have been syndicated from our startips.

We have hubs in Europe, the Nordics and Asia, giving us close proximity to startups

We started with an office in Switzerland and now have expanded across several key fintech hubs: Singapore, Nordics and Spain. Having a local presence means:

• We can host local events on a regular basis.
• We can gain a deep understanding of the startup landscape in the region.
• We can more effectively interact and nurture the startups.
• We run programs in person to build trust and close relationships.

‍Go through our portfolio to see the fintech startups that take part in our programs: Tenity Portfolio

We help corporates with the entire innovation life cycle so they can hit their goals 

We like to think of innovation across three pillars: learn, collaborate and invest. All our services and engagement points with our corporate partners are in some way connected to each of these pillars:

Learn

Before launching a program, it’s important that your company understands how innovation and the startup world works. The innovation journey starts by learning. When corporates join our ecosystem, they will be able to: 

• Network with startups, experts and corporate partners. Also get marketing value from being visible in an innovative space. 
• Learn about fintech trends from our events and conferences.

Collaborate 

Once your team or company has a good feel for the startup ecosystem, then it makes sense to look for ways for a corporate and startups to collaborate. This is where we help corporates:

• Prepare kick off workshops for ideation and developing appropriate program KPIs
• Set up a tailored startup accelerator program: generate proof of concepts (PoCs) and experiment with new technology (e.g. web3).
• Get support throughout the program from our handpicked advisors and the network’s mentors.

Invest

The third and last way we help foster innovation is by helping corporates get access to the value that startups create. They can do this by investing in startups directly, or by participating in our early stage fintech fund which invests in startups. This is how we support our corporates invest:

• Get deal flow with access to a large pool of early-stage startups
• Become a co-investor and Limited Partner of the fund
• Extended due diligence and vetting startups through the program 
• Get lead time by having insights and proximity to the startups 

Learn more about our early-stage fintech startup fund.

Barclays Accelerator Rise 

Barclays Rise, in partnership with Techstars, runs an accelerator that operates as a fintech innovation lab. Their goal is to facilitate partnerships between established financial institutions, startups, and fintech entrepreneurs. 

With locations in London and New York, they offer a program that provides upfront investment and other perks like access to a co-working space and mentoring sessions.

Venture capital focused startup accelerators:

These accelerators generally don’t offer corporate accelerator programs, but focus solely on incubating and investing into early-stage tech startups - as we do in our proprietary incubator.

Y combinator

Y Combinator (YC) is a Silicon Valley based accelerator which offers startups a 3 month growth program in exchange for equity. Each company that enters the incubation program will receive a standard investment for 7 percent of their company. 

YC has a good record of getting financial ROI from their program graduates, with notable examples including Airbnb and DoorDash. 

500 Global 

500 Global (formerly 500 Startups) is a VC firm which hosts an accelerator program from their headquarters in San Francisco, California. The program provides startups with an initial seed-stage investment, exposure to the 500 Global network and a training curriculum likened to an intense ‘Startup MBA”. In return, the early-stage companies pay a fee for the program and offer 6 percent of equity.  

Open innovation focused startup accelerators:

Accelerators that focus on providing open innovation services to corporate partners, such as ourselves.

Tenity

As mentioned, we were born out of a corporate innovation push at SIX, which means we know what real corporate innovation looks like. Ultimately, if you need innovation but do not know where to start, we help corporates:

• Gather insights about your industry that will help shape your innovation strategy and help you be perceived as innovative.
• Create deal flow pipeline for collaboration with startups.
• Create deal pipeline for future M&A.
• Recoup innovation costs.

Some examples of successful open innovation via our fintech accelerator includes:

• SIX bLink partnering with Deedster to offer a CO2 footprint calculator for Swiss banking customers to offer their clients.
• SIX partners with Urgentem to bring climate data and analytics to clients.
• Julius Baer partnering with Vestr to digitise lifecycle management of actively managed certificates.

Read more of our open innovation success stories here: Open Innovation Success Stories

Startupbootcamp

Startupbootcamp enables tech startups to accelerate their growth in various fields such as fintech, cybersecurity, blockchain, sustainability, foodtech, and mobility. The program spans three months and provides successful applicants with valuable mentorship from industry experts. Participants also enjoy complimentary access to office space and software packages like Amazon and Hubspot.

Techstars

Techstars is a US-based accelerator that welcomes startups across different sectors, from finance to retail. Every year they choose a group of early-stage technology companies to join their program, offering them seed funding, practical mentorship, and life-long access to their network.

Region-specific startup accelerators:

Tenity (Switzerland, Singapore, Nordics and Spain)

We run startup accelerators in three locations, and have a hub and Tenity team members in each one. Having a team on the ground allows us to stay in constant contact with the local ecosystem and run as many events and workshops as necessary. Check out individual hubs:

• Switzerland
• Singapore
• Nordics
• Spain

Demium (Spain, VC focus) 

Demium is a Spanish VC platform with a strong record supporting startups in southern Europe. Individuals are invited to apply with or without a product idea. If selected, the individual receives funding and gets access to Demium’s founder network. Recently, Demium has positioned themselves as a ‘talent VC’. They have dropped their incubator and accelerator programs and now focus on investing.

Kickstart (Switzerland, Open innovation focus)

Kickstart has created an open innovation platform in Switzerland that promotes collaboration and drives innovation by bringing together startups, public organisations, and corporates. 

Initially focusing on fintech and emerging technologies, Kickstart has since broadened its scope to include other verticals such as food and retail, SaaS and learning. The Kickstart Academy offers an ‘innovation funnel’ for entrepreneurs, starting with a ‘Hackathon’ for generating ideas and ending with a ‘Intrapreneurship’ program to validate and scale the idea. 

WiseGuys (Estonia, VC focus) 

Wiseguys, an Estonia-based company, runs a startup accelerator in the tech industry. They have recently shifted their attention from B2C to B2B startups. They specialise in various sectors such as Fintech, Proptech, and Web3. Startups participating in the Fintech incubator receive seed funding, which in part covers the program's costs. Founders have the opportunity to learn from experienced mentors who assist them with sales and product development.

Antler (Singapore, VC focus)

Antler is a global VC firm with a presence in Asia, including offices in Singapore, Jakarta and Seoul. The platform was built with a founder’s first philosophy, Antler supports founders before they have built their team, even onboarding them in the pre-idea stage. Antler’s program supports founders to validate and scale their idea putting them in contact with experts, other founders and potential investors. 

Why work with Tenity as a corporate?

You’ll be able to hit the ground running with your own startup accelerator 

As a corporate, there are multiple ways you can be part of our ecosystem. You can:

• Take part or sponsor one of our events and learn about innovation and startups.
• Engage us to create a startup accelerator for you.
• Invest in our early-stage fintech fund.

‍Read more about how to work with us on our Corporate page.

When it comes to setting up fintech startup accelerators, we’ve run 50+ accelerators since 2018, with a total of 270 startups that have graduated from our programs. When we work together to set up a bespoke startup accelerator, as a corporate you will:

• Be working with expert startup scouts to identify the relevant startups.
• Have constant contact with the startups in your program, with select points of contact to help identify potential partnership.
• Work with corporate innovation experts that will help with define KPIs and metrics for success.

Here’s how we recently set up an acceleration program with the Isle of Man Government. 

In the program, we brought together top insurance companies on the Isle of Man and startups in fintech and insurtech. During the open call for startups, our focus was on identifying growth-stage companies with enterprise-ready solutions in key topic areas: customer onboarding, policy management, and wealth management. After receiving over 70 applications, we handpicked 7 standouts to participate in the accelerator. 

Over the course of the 12 week program, the 7 startups were challenged to develop innovative Insuretech solutions, in joint collaboration with the insurance companies. At each stage of the process, they received guidance and support from the program partners, including Zurich, Utmost, RI360, Momentum International, EIP, and Hansard.

You’ll always be on top of fintech trends

Since we only specialise in fintech and financial services, we have a much more in-depth understanding of what is happening in the fintech space. 

We’re constantly scouting fintech-only startups and reviewing the hundreds of applications for our acceleration programs, which means we can quickly connect and advise corporates to work with the right startups. 

If you need a connection or expertise on anything related to fintech, you’re very likely going to find it in our ecosystem:

1. Learn from over 200 fintech mentors.
2. Host or join events with experts.
3. Network with corporate partners at our demo days.

‍Note: If you are interested in attending one of our events or demo days, join our newsletter for updates. Or register from our events page. 

You can capture early value as a co-investor in our early-stage fintech fund

As a corporate, it takes a while to build dealflow. Many startups won’t accept strategic investors on their cap table, and you have to pick the right window to invest in the startups.

When startups join our incubator, we get a small percentage of equity in exchange for a pre-seed investment, with possible follow-on investments in subsequent rounds. This means that investors in our fund get the opportunity to participate in each of those startups through the fund.

While we cannot guarantee investment or acquisition outcomes, our close proximity with the startups provides you with early information about their funding needs. This level of access gives you lead time to prepare for an investment and means you're much less likely to miss an opportunity to invest. 

Also, investing directly in startups can be risky if it’s a small portfolio of companies. By working with a fund that invests in 300+ startups, you significantly increase your chances of backing the successful ones.

Learn more about our early-stage fintech fund.

We were born from corporate innovation and we’re fintech specific 

At Tenity, we combine open innovation with our VC activity. 

Unlike other funds, we didn't originate from the VC sector but rather evolved from a corporate innovation project. This means that our leadership team has firsthand experience working in corporate innovation. We’ve experienced ourselves the pressures of working in the corporate environment, we know how to measure corporate innovation success and have been doing so for the past 8 years.

We do more than just accelerators: we help with the entire lifecycle of innovation 

When it comes to corporate innovation, one startup accelerator program often isn’t enough. 

You need to change the internal culture, get people involved in the startup ecosystem and get them used to working with startups. By working on different aspects of innovation, corporates can ensure they’re getting the best ROI on their investment.

That’s why we don’t just do startup accelerators. When corporates join the Tenity ecosystem, they also get access to:

• Regular Lunch & learns.
• Startup workshops.
• Events and conferences.
• Networking with corporate partners and financial industry experts.
• Access to 200+ fintech mentors.
• Programs to collaborate with strategic startups. 
• Deal flow sessions.

What is included in a Tenity fintech accelerator?

What happens in a fintech accelerator will vary depending on our client’s goals. Some will be 12 weeks and others will be focused on a specific fintech subsector (e.g. web3). Since they are bespoke, they will vary.

But it’s still worth understanding how a classic accelerator program structure works. Here’s what it could like: 

Example Fintech accelerator program 4 month schedule

Each startup team is paired with a dedicated mentor who will provide guidance and support throughout the entire 4 month program. To further assist the startups, we also offer one-on-one coaching sessions to help them prepare for various aspects of the program and ensure clarity regarding our expectations.

1. Foundation: Problem-solution fit 

The content of the first round of sessions focus on ideation, problem-solution fit and validation. We focus on:

• Data room structure. 
• Mission and vision for sales pitch.
• Validation plan. 

2. Build: the business plan 

The second round of the program focuses on building the product and business plan. The touch points in the ‘Building weeks’ include:

• Developing MVPs and the business model.
• Mini testing of the product prototype. 
• Building a plan for future fundraising. 

3. Grow: the marketing plan

The third round of masterclasses helps the startups with growth and creating marketing material for the product they are about to present on the pitch day. In the growth weeks, the startups get our support with:

• Finding their first customer. 
• Building a customer funnel and financial model. 
• Creating an executive summary for investors.
• Creating a pitch deck for the big day.

4. Demo day

On the last day of the program, we gather for the final time to celebrate the progress we’ve made together and hear the final presentations from each startup. 

For corporates our demo days are a great opportunity to meet the startups and network amongst the founders. Also, by listening to the pitches and having follow up discussions with the teams, you can uncover some really interesting insights about the innovative solutions each startup has worked on.

Beyond the program

In addition to the demo day, there are more engagement points between corporates and startups, such as deal flow sessions and other masterclasses. We also actively promote promising startups through our newsletter and host exclusive investor dinners, making personal introductions between investors and a choice group of founders.

What to look out for when working with a fintech accelerator as a corporate

As someone who’s helped 10+ corporates set up fintech accelerators, here’s what I’ve learnt and what I would recommend to corporates looking to set up their own financial technology accelerator or invest in a startup that has graduated from one.

You need to find the right profile of experts

The world of startups and innovation never stops moving, which is why when you’re setting up a program you need to make sure you’re working with people who know the sector and have a lot of experience.

This is why it really pays to work with a program that focuses on a specific sector. When a challenge arises, you can pick up the phone and contact someone you know will have some perspective on the issue. By surrounding yourself with the right network of industry professionals, you gain access to a vast pool of knowledge and expertise. 

You need proximity to the startups

There’s a reason at Tenity we have people on the ground in every hub we work with. I believe that meeting and learning in physical spaces and holding face to face events is the best way makes collaboration a lot easier. It makes it a lot easier for us to get a feel of the startup landscape and build relationships with the community. 

Personally, I’m based in our Spanish hub in Madrid. I run all the events and being local, I have a much better feel of the ecosystem of startups. 

A great example of this working is back in Zurich, when the CEO of one of our partners attended a pitch event and decided to give the green light to a PoC after meeting the startup founders in person!

You have to be clear with your objectives

Anyone can do a startup accelerator program for you. What really matters is: can they do a program for you that hits your objectives.

When setting up a startup programme, you need to make sure you set realistic goals, and that you understand the purpose of innovation. 

Innovation is never straightforward, it’s messy and it’s hard to measure. You need to be willing to spend money and invest resources. But there are also a number of soft factors that will determine if innovation or a collaborative program is successful.

For example, internal culture plays a critical role. You need the key stakeholders to be open to experimentation, to making mistakes and learning about how startups work. In the early stages of our program, we focus on actively engaging key decision makers and push them to become ‘innovation champions’ within the company.

Top fintech accelerators: work with startups to help with corporate innovation

We have showcased a strong selection of accelerators across different regions. Although many companies do run fintech-specific programs, many will service other industries as well. If you are a corporate looking for an accelerator to invest or for open innovation, make sure you choose one that has the right expertise, local presence, and the experience to support your goals effectively. 

If you want to learn more about Tenity, our programs and our past achievements with corporate partners, get in touch.‍