Africa’s innovators and startups will have the ability to scale their ideas in new markets following the launch today of Rise, a physical and virtual global community that facilitates collaboration and fintech innovation.

Funded by the Barclays, Rise is positioned to take advantage of technology solutions that are not reliant on physical infrastructure. This is particularly relevant in the African context. It provides developing markets with an opportunity to leapfrog ageing analogue infrastructure, according to Barclays Africa, deployed in most developed economies, and with it the capacity to solve some of Africa’s development challenges.

“The financial services industry is undergoing a paradigm shift and new tech start-ups are challenging traditional business models,” says Ashley Veasey, CIO of Barclays Africa. “This is possible, in principle, because advances in technology are enabling bright minds to develop solutions that compete with the best of those developed by big corporates. We aim to partner and collaborate at the forefront of this change,” adds Veasey.

In addition to the connected digital network, Rise has physical innovation hubs in London, Manchester and New York, and is set to open one in Cape Town in December.  With over 5 000 startups interacting through the Rise London and Manchester hubs in the first year alone, and more than 20 hackathons being hosted with 130-plus companies having made use of the global sites, Rise Cape Town is set to enable Africans to connect, co-create and scale the next big thing in financial services.

“Rise is about connecting the world’s most active innovators to each other, to corporates and to resources and by expanding to another continent means we’re able to broaden this network further,” says Derek White, Barclays chief design and digital officer and architect of the global Rise programme.

“We’re unlocking the power of open innovation to co-create the future of financial services, which will ultimately benefit customers and clients across the globe,” added White.

The Cape Town hub will be home to a number of open innovation programmes and includes co-working facilities, a world-class events space, and a bespoke setting for the Barclays Accelerator programme.    

Ashley Veasley, CIO, Barclays Africa.

Applications now open for the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars

Several Rise initiatives are already underway in Africa, namely the Tech Lab Africa programme and the Barclays Africa Supply Chain Challenge while applications are now open to companies wanting to participate in the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars.

This programme offers innovators and entrepreneurs unprecedented access to leading thinkers at Barclays and to Techstars’ mentor and investor relationships across 14 locations. This latest Barclays Accelerator programme follows successful programmes in London and New York.

“The three-month intensive programme has been designed to accelerate new fintech businesses in delivering breakthrough products to market,” says Veasey. “What we’re offering companies is a seat within a best-in-class accelerator programme, which in turn affords access to data, technology and intensive mentoring from industry experts and key decision makers.”

The programme will culminate in a ‘Demo Day’ to an audience that compRises industry leaders, serial entrepreneurs, senior executives and corporate partners.

“We are excited to launch our third accelerator programme with Barclays which will provide new opportunities to companies interested in leveraging the Cape Town fintech community as well as the larger Barclays and Techstars ecosystems. Barclays has become a true innovation partner to Techstars and is deeply committed to spreading fintech innovation worldwide,” says David Brown, co-founder and managing partner at Techstars.

Applications are now open until 10 January 2016 at www.barclaysaccelerator.com. The programme will begin on 28 March 2016 with the ‘Demo Days’ scheduled for June 2016.