Episode Details

In the hot Fintech sector there are few places hotter than being a Fintech in a 3 month accelerator program. But what are they? What’s the inside track? What works well, what is surprising and how is it all changing?

Plenty of dynamics to discuss in today’s episode with Nektarios Liolios, the co-founder of Startupbootcamp Fintech. Prior to that he had over a decade’s FS experience and in particular spent several years In charge of Swift’s Innotribe Startup Challenge. Many of you may not be familiar with that but you will certainly be familiar with some of the alumni of that program – real Fintech royalty such as Transferwise, Currency Cloud (more below the radar but the cognoscenti’s Fintech perhaps), and Azimo.

So who better than Nektarios to “lift the bonnet” today?

Startupbootcamp is a global network of industry focused startup accelerators. It was founded in Copenhagen in 2010 with the core idea of supporting the best entrepreneurs as they grow their startups. So it is a rara avis in terms of not coming out of the US tech scene. It is now the largest in Europe and one of the top 3 worldwide – another rare European triumph. They have helped 200 startups raise a total of over Eu64m creating well over 800 jobs and are in 8 locations worldwide.

Where did the accelerator concept come from? Naturally the west coast US tech scene and the likes of super-well-known Y Combinator and Tech Stars. Interestingly however in the fascinating Seedrankings research into US accelerator performance (pdf, wmv), whilst the best get great approval ratings, the participant in a median program would not recommend it to a friend. So clearly there is an art to doing this well.

But backing up to the bigger picture – maybe you are unclear on what the difference is between an accelerator, an incubator and a co-working space.

To a certain extent there is a spectrum … but broadly speaking an accelerator runs a specific program with a start date, an end date and a curriculum in between. You have to apply and enter a selection process to be accepted and will probably be given some small amount of funding in return for a small equity stake. Post-program you are out of the nest and into the real world (even if you then join their alumni group). As well as Startupbootcamp the premier London programs are Accenture’s Fintech Innovation Lab and Barclays Accelerator (in collaboration with Techstars).

By contrast an incubator is like a warm nest that you don’t have to leave and will not run a specific program although to be called an incubator it really needs to have some value-added (events, mentors…).  Notable examples are Level 39 (where R5FX of LFP005 fame reside) and Innovation Warehouse (where Kwanji of

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