Fintech awards
Fintech awards | |
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Description | Financial technology |
Country |
Fintech awards are several award ceremonies, most of them unrelated, which are held all over the world to recognize excellence in financial technology as assessed by public vote and panels of judges. As a rule, there are many categories and prizes. Hundreds of companies, mostly startups, participate as candidates.
As of 2016, major fintech awards ceremonies are held in India, Australia, Canada, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States. Two ceremonies are not national but continental: the African FinTech Awards and Conference, and the European Fintech Awards.
Awards by country and continent
Africa
The first African FinTech Awards and Conference will be held within the Finance Indaba Africa conference and expo in Johannesburg in October 2016. It will gather Africa's leading FinTech entrepreneurs, bankers, investors and advisors.[1]
Australia
The 1st Annual Australian FinTech Awards will be held on 23 June 2016. The awards will be given in thirteen categories. The project, product, research paper, campaign, or activity that is entered must have been created, developed or released in the 18 months before the awards to be a valid entry.[2]
Founded by Glen Frost, the founder of FinTech Summit, and sponsored by Ashurst, the awards celebrate the achievements of the people and businesses comprising the fintech sector.[3][4] The candidates can enter as many awards as they feel appropriate at no charge.[5]
Canada
The Canadian FinTech Awards were created in 2014 by the Digital Finance Institute,[6] a prominent global think tank for FinTech created in 2013, that has helped build the Canadian FinTech ecosystem.[7] The first Canadian FinTech Awards were held on October 19 2015, in Toronto as part of the Digital Finance Institute's Annual National Conference in Toronto.
There are eight categories of awards created by the Digital Finance Institute including "Investor of the Year"; "FinTech of the Year"; "Financial Institution Innovator of the Year"; "Professional Service Organization of the Year"; "Governance Person of the Year"; "Academic Institution Program"; "Accelerator, Incubator or Entrepreneurial Network"; and "Global Impact".[8]
The 2016 Canadian FinTech Awards are held on November 21, 2016, in Toronto at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel as a Black Tie Gala Awards Dinner Ceremony sponsored by PayPal, CIBC, SAS, Payments Canada and Ryerson University's The DMZ, among others.
In 2016, notable nominations for the Digital Finance Institute's FinTech Awards include Satoshi Nakamoto for "Global Impact" his / her invention of Bitcoin and Blockchain technology and Innotribe and SWIFT for "Global Impact" for their leadership and vision in commissioning the first study and white paper on "FemTechLeaders". Also notable was that for the first time in history, a government agency was nominated for a FinTech Award when the British Columbia Lottery Corporation was nominated for a Canadian FinTech Award for RegTech for its online gambling website, PlayNow.
Canada's FinTech Awards has become the go-to event for the FinTech community in Canada that is well-attended and sponsored by Canada's major banks, software firms, universities and prominent members of the FinTech eco-system.
Europe
The European FinTech Awards is an organization that aims to disrupt traditional financial intuitions by providing a platform for fintech entrepreneurs to collaborate with one another.[9] Like the Dutch and African awards, the European awards are the result of an initiative of Alex van Groningen BV, a Dutch financial publisher.[10]
The awards start with the European FinTech 100, a selection of innovative companies with ground-breaking ideas and technologies. The wide batch is chosen by the vote of more than 55,000 fintech enthusiasts from all over Europe (as of 2016). Then a panel of fintech experts reduces the selection to one hundred companies. The one hundred, in turn, are the pool from which the finalists are chosen. The finalists have the opportunity to pitch during the conference and take home either the main prize, the Best European FinTech Company, or one of the 9 sub-categories.[11][12]
The first European FinTech Awards & Conference was held in Amsterdam on 14 April 2016. 413 companies from 34 European countries were nominated. 30% of all nominees were from United Kingdom.[13][14]
Behaviosec was the winner of the award for the Best European FinTech Company 2016. Winners in the 9 sub-categories were: Monese (Challenger Banks), Funding Circle (Alternative Finance), Ebury (Payments), Wikifolio (PFM), Everledger (Blockchain), Kreditech (Financial Inclusion), Knip (InsurTech), Backbase (Innovative Banking Software), and Behaviosec (Risk, Intelligence & Security).[15]
India
India FinTech Awards is an event organized by the India FinTech Forum along with several startup accelerators. It is a prestigious award for fintech firms, and recognizes their efforts to change the way financial services are delivered. The winners are decided by a panel of industry stalwarts. The event focuses on actual working product demonstrations to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
Italy
The Italian Fintech Awards originated from the Grand Prix for Italian startups, held in 2014. The Grand Prix and the Fintech Awards, both organized by CheBanca!, have been geared towards the best Italian fintech startups. The 2016 edition had a call for submission till 31 March. 12 finalists were chosen among the candidates.[16]
The winner is awarded 25,000 euros, personalized workshops with startup coaches, and a visit to a startup bootcamp in London. In 2016, the co-winners of the ceremony in Milan were Ovalmoney and eXrade.[17]
Luxembourg
The finals of the first Fintech Lion Awards in Luxembourg, launched by KPMG, will be held on 21 June 2016. Among the candidates, 15 start-ups from Luxembourg were chosen to pitch their projects at the semi-finals in May. Ten of them were chosen for the finals, which will be held under the patronage of Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.[18]
The jury will be composed of established entrepreneurs, investors and celebrities. There will be three awards: Fintech Startup of the Year (50,000 euros and a four-month stay at Technoport); Fintech Entrepreneur of the Year (a trip to Silicon Valley and a year at the KPMG Hub for Entrepreneurship); Best Pitch (a year at the KPMG Hub for Entrepreneurship and a media campaign).[18]
Netherlands
The first Dutch Fintech Awards took place at the headquarters of host ABN AMRO in Amsterdam in 2015. A 40-member jury gave awards in seven categories.[19] The awards were attended by some 400 national and international fintech investors, companies, experts and executives.[20]
In 2015, Adyen was the overall winner, receiving the award for a lasting breakthrough in the current payment industry. The winners in particular categories were: AcceptEmail (Payments), Five degrees (Banking IT), Bux (Personal Finance), Bitonic (Bitcoin), Sparkholder (Intelligence & Analytics), Symbid (SME).[20]
Switzerland
The call for submissions for the first Swiss Fintech Award was published in October 2015. Any company founded by a Swiss citizen or headquartered in Switzerland could participate. A jury of 16 experts chose the top ten enterprises that would be trained in boot camps. The second round was a speed dating event with the jury and award sponsors in early February 2016. The three finalists pitched their ideas at the financial and economic forum "Fintech 2016" on 31 March 2016. The winner won a cash prize and a stay at the Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab in London.[21]
United Kingdom
The UK Fintech Awards ceremony was held in London on 13 April 2016. Sponsored by Bobsguide, the awards recognized achievements across the global financial technology industry.[22]
United States
In the United States, there are two major award ceremonies.
The Benzinga Fintech Awards (BZ Awards) take place in New York. Their purpose is to "showcase the companies with the most impressive technology, who are paving the future in financial services and capital markets." There are 18 awards.[23] In 2016, more than 25,000 people voted for their favorites among 223 companies from around the globe.[24]
The Efma Fintech Awards highlight the best in class fintech solutions in several categories, with a panel of experts voting on the best solutions. In 2016, the winners were announced at Efma’s Distribution Summit on 14 April 2016.[25]
References
- ^ "FinTech Awards & Conference Africa: Meet the African FinTech 100". FinTech Africa. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "1st Annual Australian FinTech Awards 2016". FinTech Awards. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ Madeleine Mattera (19 April 2016). "Recognising the achievements of the Fintech sector!". Thought Leadership. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "FinTech Summit 2016". FinTech Summit. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ Glen Frost (4 May 2016). "FinTech Awards 2016: now FREE to enter". FinTech Sydney. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Digital Finance Institute". www.digitalfinanceinstitute.org. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ "FinTech – Digital Finance Institute". www.digitalfinanceinstitute.org. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ "Welcome". 2016 Canadian FinTech Awards. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
- ^ Ryan Kennedy (5 May 2016). "Blockchain Firm Wins EU Fintech Award". Payment Week. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Why Dutch isn't the same as Holland in FinTech". Holland Fintech. 5 December 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "European FinTech Awards & Conference 2016". Eggsplore. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Videos European FinTech Awards & Conference". European FinTech Awards. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "For the first time, Latvian agency enters European Fintech Awards as TOP3 Innovative Banking company". The Baltic Course. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Quelles sont les meilleures start-up de la scène fintech en Europe?" (in French). Bilan. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Winners of European FinTech Awards 2016 announced". European FinTech Awards. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "CheBanca! Italian Fintech Awards 2016" (in Italian). StartupItalia!. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Italian Fintech Awards, vincono eXrade e la startup di Benedetta Arese Lucini" (in Italian). EconomyUp. 7 May 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ a b Xavier Bettel (10 April 2016). "Fintech Awards: à vos dossiers" (in French). Paperjam. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ Frederieke Hegger (20 April 2015). "Adyen wint Fintech Awards" (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ a b "Adyen is FinTech Company of the Year 2015" (in Dutch). Emerce. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Registrierungsbeginn für Swiss Fintech Award" (in German). Netzwoche. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Imagine's Innovative Expertise Celebrated at 2016 FinTech Awards". Bobs Guide. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
- ^ "Benzinga Fintech Awards 2016". Benzinga. 18 September 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Benzinga Fintech Awards 2016". FinTech Sandbox. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "The Fintech Portal and Awards". Efma. 27 January 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.