Henry Kravis and Accenture Help Fund FinTech Innovation Lab and Create Jobs

IMG: via FinTech

FinTech Innovation Lab was created in 2010 by Accenture and the Partnership Fund for New York City, A civic group that was launched by Henry Kravis too help fund IT startups.

Every year, 100 startups compete for 20-something spots in a mentoring program that has CIOs from insurance companies in New York City and large banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group, and more. When the 12 week program is done, the startups are given the chance to participate in demo day, where they can present to investors and potential customers. Participants are not revealed until Demo Day, which happened last week on July 11.

“I meet with these winners every year and I am blown away by the quality of the ideas,” Henry Kravis told CIO Journal. “It’s a way to make sure the financial center stays here and a way to make sure financial institutions know about innovation. “

Six different startups presented on Thursday. Dashlane is a digital wallet and password manager. Centripetal Networks is a network security firm with advanced applications and algorithms. Inktank manages data using open source software and reduces costs. The other three include Narrative Science, OpenFin and Scrollmotion.

Since FinTech Innovation Lab has been so successful in NewYork, an extension program was created in London. “We saw the value that the lab brought to New York—the logic of creating a financial technology ecosystem in the backyard of the financial world is unmistakable,” said Richard Lumb, who is group chief executive of Accenture’s financial services group and the leader of the London FinTech program. “In some ways, the U.K. is a little different than the U.S. It is quite good at innovation, but the U.S. is much better at commercializing innovation,”  he said.

The Partnership Fund for New York City’s has generated nearly 12,000 jobs in New York.

Henry Kravis said that the winners of FinTech are required to maintain a presence in New York. “They have to give New  York a shot. Whenever I meet these people, I always try to get them involved with our portfolio companies,” he said. “We have to be able to help them, either through mentoring, or by opening a door for them. If they meet people at First Data, for example, they could have a very good customer base and that will propel [them] very quickly.”