The 9 participants of the OTP Startup Program have been selected

Nine post-product/market fit startups and scaleups will have the opportunity to cooperate with OTP Bank under the second batch of the credit institution’s international startup programme. Over the course of the three-month programme, the companies invited to join the scheme can test their products and services with the support of several bank departments, while also aiming to prove their maturity and readiness to develop a long-term cooperation with the banking group.

Applications for OTP Bank’s second international startup and scaleup program were open from last October, and a great number of companies have chosen to benefit from this opportunity: a total of 310 companies from 65 different countries have submitted applications. Subsequent to online interviews, the representatives of 30 firms have been invited to the Selection Camp, hosted from 16 to 17 January in Budapest, Hungary, in order to present their businesses and the development projects proposed to the bank.

Finally, based on the decision of a professional jury, the 9 most promising startup and scaleup companies will have the opportunity to be involved in the programme, with a chance of further developing their solutions in pilot projects implemented jointly with the bank and of demonstrating how their products or services suit the banking environment.

Startups were invited to submit their application in 5+1 focus areas: Advanced data & analytics tool, Customer experience and servicing, Internal efficiency, Open banking and security, Product innovations, and other innovative solutions that do not fit into these categories, yet are useful to the financial sector.

The activities of the selected cohort companies are also related to these subject fields. For example, Alyne SaaS is developing a digital platform for efficient legal compliance and risk management, whilst SymbaSync and Staffino support the innovative management of HR processes and customer service. The former seeks to establish a new foundation for recruitment processes and the compilation of project teams, whilst the latter has developed an innovative customer feedback solution, which is key to maintaining quality and employee motivation. The activities of Talk-A-Bot are similar: the platform designed by the internationally recognized startup supports the development of chatbots fulfilling a wide range of functions as well as the automation of customer service tasks.

Tresorit has developed a multi-award-winning, secure, cloud-based storage and file sharing solution for confidential files, which can increase the efficiency of the day-to-day activities of several units of the bank, whilst Evrotrust provides services related to remote customer identification and electronic authentication, which may open up new horizons in the field of online banking.

Kasko provides assistance for insurance companies and their partners in developing flexible and innovative insurance services, while Bluecode seeks to further simplify mobile phone-based payment in stores with its mobile payment system based on barcode scanning. Finally, the team of HeatVentors, a startup revolutionising energy storage, designed an innovative, phase change heat storage system that can transform the cooling and heating of branches and bank office buildings.

“The main target group of the programme comprised more mature businesses that are working on comprehensive developments transcending the scope of classic product innovation, which can provide long-term support for the bank's efforts to increase the efficiency of its operations and to cater for an even wider range of customer needs. Over the three months of the programme, we seek to provide the highest level of professional support for the businesses involved, developing the closest possible cooperation with them”, said András Fischer, head of OTP Bank’s Retail Innovation Department.

9 cohort companies from 6 countries (Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Great Britain and Slovakia) may commence work in early March, with multi-level support from OTP Bank. Over the three-month-long acceleration period, the representatives of the companies will also take part in three thematic weeks including training sessions, workshops and individual mentoring sessions—customised to their previously surveyed needs—in order to assist the expansion of their knowledge base. Public meetups open to a wider audience as well as the guest speakers of various events will provide them with additional professional knowledge and networking opportunities. At the end of the three-month period, at the Demo Day event to be held on 23 May, the companies will present the lessons learned and the results achieved during the pilot period to a wider audience.

For more information on the programme, please visit www.otpstartup.com.