Located in Rise London, the #HomeofFinTech, the program will start on 4th of February and Investor Day will be on the 5th of May. We are looking for exceptional founders who are enterprise-ready, tackling big, important problems in financial services.

We are specifically looking for founders using leading edge technology to provide better customer solutions in lending, regulatory and risk management, payments, wealth, loyalty, cyber-security, insurance and big data. Our definition of FinTech is broad and we welcome applications from founders across the world.

You can start your application now, but keep reading this blog for more information about how to meet us during our upcoming scouting trips.  Also, be sure to click on the link to the video webinar where I will tell you more about the program.  We ideally want to meet you in person or via video if possible and want to use that time to learn more about your company.

Meet the Team

We are holding office hours in London, New York, Toronto, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Dublin, Milan, Brussels and remotely through Skype. If you’d like to meet with us, please check out the date and times below, and fill out this meeting request form.

Remote on Skype: now – October 13

London: now – October 13

Dublin: 28-29th August

Paris: 5th September

New York: 10-11th September

Toronto: 12-13th September

Milan: 17-18th September

Amsterdam: 19-20th September

Stockholm: 24-25th September

Oslo: 26th September

We also recommend that you follow us on Twitter for specific updates and new event postings. Connect with us here: @chrisadelsbach and @fabio_maffioli.

Get to know a little about me and my thoughts about mentorship and FinTech in this interview in the The FinTech Times.

Why Apply to the Barclays Accelerator, Powered by Techstars?

The best way to to find out about an accelerator program is to speak with those that have gone through it.  Shieldpay CEO, Peter Janes, who recently completed the worlds first fully digital real estate transaction, wrote about his experience after completing the program in 2017.

In addition, our program is considered world leading because:

Reason #1: You get access to amazing mentors

Our program is mentorship-driven and we find the people that have the network to help you succeed. Our mentors are a diverse and amazing collection of financial services executives, successful entrepreneurs, city power-brokers, top angel investors and venture capitalists, as well as amazing mentors with backgrounds in product, engineering, legal, marketing and finance. You also get instant access and mentorship to senior Barclays team members who define success as you being successful. Most of our mentors have been with us for years and are trusted, connected and effective as evidenced by the qualitative and quantitative feedback we get back from our founders.  A few of our mentors from last year were former CEO of the British Banking Association, Anthony Browne, co-founder of Funding Circle, Andrew Mullinger, Senior Advisor to the Bank of England, Tangy Morgan, and co-founder and MD of Xero, Gary Turner.

Reason #2: You really grow & accelerate your business

We help our companies make tangible progress and help grow and accelerate their business.  Historically nearly all companies enter demo day with a tangible proof of concept or pilot with at least one partner they meet on the program.  Increasingly, these pilots turn into significant relationships like what Simudyne, Cutover and Flux have announced with Barclays.  

Reason #3: Successful fundraising

Techstars is one of the most successful venture investors in the world.  We were seed investors in Uber, Twilio, SendGrid and Pill Pack just to name a few (a few unicorns).  And what’s more, because we find amazing companies early, other VC’s take notice.

The program culminates with Demo Day.  Founders are transformed from, frankly, average communicators to excellent story tellers.  Check out the video here!  You’ll present your business to a curated group of top tier investors and corporate partners. Each year we have about 600 people over two days in attendance, of which over half were VC’s or angels.  This is one reason why our alumni have the best record in securing funding.

Our program has had great success raising capital from tier one investors. Companies such as Everledger , Post Quantum, Aire, Ravelin, Do Pay, Cuvva, Cutover, Shieldpay, Flux, Clausematch, and Bokio are just a few examples. Globally, Techstars has the highest success rates for follow-on funding, with 154 successful portfolio company exits and $5.5 Billion of combined portfolio financing at a combined $14 Billion valuation.

Reason #4: You get a network for life

The Techstars worldwide network is one of the largest and fastest growing networks of entrepreneurs around the world. Once you are a part of Techstars, you are a part of Techstars for life, and you get to be part of the network that helps you go faster and accelerate your current and future businesses. For instance, Techstars has a team of five people in Silicon Valley that run partnerships and M&A which companies tap into many months or years after they finish the program.

Reason #5: In London, you are at the centre of the global FinTech scene

London is simply the best place to build a FinTech startup. You will be located within minutes of the world’s largest banks, asset management, and law firms. What’s more, a supportive government, forward thinking regulator and Europe’s largest VC ecosystem are all nearby (not that you’ll need to visit them as many of them treat our accelerator as a hub and regularly meet startups here)!

What Founders say About Their Experience

Our founders are like family.  Here is what some are saying about our program:

“The Techstars program was a truly transformational experience for Cuvva; we were able to expand our network of supporters by a factor of ten, re-align the direction of the company and eventually partner with the second biggest global re-insurer, all in the space of 12 weeks!” Freddy Macnamara – CEO, Cuvva

“Being selected for the Barclays Techstars accelerator was transformational for our business. The access to mentors and advisers throughout the programme ensured we steered a course to success. The camaraderie amongst the cohort was amazing, strong relationships were forged and continue to grow. Introductions to senior personnel at Barclays were invaluable and enabled us to prove concepts. They bought our software and we continue to work closely with them.” Justin Lyon – CEO, Simudyne

“The Barclays Techstars Accelerator is a tremendous platform of growth for us. We were fortunate to move from two proof of concept uses of our software to 15 uses across the bank. Barclays gave us unparalleled access to senior technologists and opened itself up, in a safe way, as a sandbox so we could experiment. We went on to raise a financing round post programme and then signed a Global Framework Agreement with Barclays.” Ky Nichol – CEO, Cutover

“The main motivation for us at AgentCASH to apply for the programme was to access FinTech investors and high-profile industry experts – something that completely paid off. It would have taken years to accomplish this if we had tried to build the network on our own. Some of the Techstars mentors, like Gary Turner, Managing Director of Xero, become big supporters of our company.” Sasa Sarunic – CEO, AgentCASH

“Courtsdesk went into the Techstars Barclays accelerator as an Irish startup with an MVP in testing, and came out 12 weeks later as a globally-networked, commercially-launched business, with an advisory board packed with C-suite executives from the most influential companies in our markets, and investors that we couldn’t have dreamed of beforehand.” Enda Leahy – CEO, Courtsdesk

“Atlas started with a big vision of banking the unbanked when we joined the program in 2015. 3 of the technical associates immediately gravitated towards Atlas and joined us in Senegal. Now, all 3 work for us full time and live with us in Ghana! Having access to this talent pool allowed us to initially test and grow our product as we had a small team with many holes to fill, but it more importantly, it resulted in us establishing a family culture early on that we are now adding to as we rapidly grow.” Mickey Costa – Co-MD, Atlas

“Being part of the Barclays London Techstars program has allowed us to accelerate beyond any normal ramping for an early stage startup. The program has opened doors to a global network of connections and resources that has helped build and scale a business that would typically take five years to establish.” Leanne Kemp – CEO, Everledger

“We entered the program as a company with 6 years of R&D behind it and a team comprised of founders at an older age than your average founder. Through the expert mentoring and privileged access offered, we were able to move quickly towards commercialisation.” Anderson Cheng – CEO, Post-Quantum

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