Finalists selected in 2015 FinTech Innovation Lab startup competition
The London-based start-up accelerator was launched in 2012 to support the development of new technologies for use in the financial services industry, and is backed by Accenture, the Technology Strategy Board and the London Mayor's office.
This year's finalists - Atsora, Cytora, Duco, PontusVision, Ripjar, Torusware and xWare42 - will be enrolled on a 12-week mentorship programme hosted at Canary Wharf's Level 39 accelerator space. They will be partnered with senior-level bank executives and successful technology entrepreneurs to develop their technologies and business strategies.
At the end of the development process, the startups will be invited to present as part of an investor day in front of finance sector businesses, hosted at Royal Bank of Scotland's offices on 26th March.
"Advances in technology and shifts in customer expectations bring both disruption and opportunity, and we need to recognise that banking is now a digital business," said Simon McNamara, chief administrative officer, Royal Bank of Scotland.
"Our work with fintech startups can help us to respond to this challenge and help them achieve their business goals."
Previous finalists have raised more than $25 million (£16.5m) in new investment and signed nearly 50 contracts to do business with banks.
Alumni include Waratek, BehavioSec, and Digital Shadows, which recently announced a partnership with the Bank of England to help improve UK banks' cyber defences with the creation of a security testing framework.
The 2015 finalists in full:
Atsora provides financial institutions with innovative tools for small business owners. The core product, Momentum, is an integrated online and mobile application used for business planning, monitoring cash-flow and growth forecasting.
Cytora uses web-based data to provide real-time geopolitical risk assessments to organisations that operate in volatile, emerging or complex markets. The solution allows users to customise their risk assessment to capture information relevant to their businesses and includes alerts for immediate updates when conditions suddenly change.
Duco is a technology company that helps financial services firms control and manage complex data. Its web-based reconciliation service, Duco Cube, enables non-technical staff to identify discrepancies in trades, transactions or reference data across different data sets, within minutes.
Pontus Networks helps businesses increase the performance of their computer systems. Its flagship product, PontusVision Threat Manager, enables different types of business software to run more efficiently and nearly three times faster.
Ripjar's platform provides real-time social media monitoring and data analysis. Using proprietary natural language processing, deep learning algorithms and visualizations, Ripjar's platform allows organisations to make sense of the growing number of external data sources.
Torusware enables businesses to increase the processing speed of their IT systems, whether these systems are hosted on the cloud or implemented on premise. For instance, trading systems, which need to exchange information in nanoseconds, can experience unpredictable high-load at specific times, such as when exchanges open or close, and Torusware ensures low latency responsive times during these critical periods.
xWare42 is a software developer whose core product, xPay, allows banks to give customers additional information about their purchases. For instance, payment details on a bank statement can be enriched by adding information such as receipts, addresses, opening hours, service numbers and other details about the retailers. This gives customers a more helpful picture of their purchases while allowing banks and partner retailers to offer personalised discounts and encourage further transactions.