Nordea Bank seeks breakthroughs in AI and blockchain

Rage Review : Nordea is the largest financial institution in Northern Europe and a member of the R3CEV blockchain alliance. In order to prepare for the next Internet finance acceleration program in Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland this fall, the bank is working with IBM and others to select qualified start-ups. It is committed to seeking breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, blockchain, cognitive computing and other fields. Nordea's first accelerator program was very effective, and I believe this time will also bring good results.

Translation: Annie_Xu

In preparation for its next FinTech accelerator program in Stockholm, Sweden, and Helsinki, Finland, this fall, Nordea wants to work with startups to develop artificial intelligence applications and blockchain-based products.

More than 200 companies have applied for Nordea’s 12-week accelerator programme, which will give start-ups the opportunity to realise their ideas alongside Nordea, technology giant IBM, India’s Tata Consultancy Services and programme operator Nestholma.

After a round of screening, Nordea narrowed the list of participating companies to 35, from the United States, Russia, Singapore, India, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden; companies from these countries presented their ideas to bank executives, and the successful ones could advance to become the final 20 participating institutions.

Jan Sirich

Jan Sirich, Head of Experimentation and Learning at Nordea, said:

“We are committed to developing high-quality digital services for our customers and also drawing on external innovation and expertise. This time, the Nordea Startup Accelerator focuses on new technological ideas such as cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology. But we are also interested in other areas that can improve the quality of customer service.”

Nordea’s first startup accelerator program ran in the winter of 2015-2016, with the winning companies receiving €600,000 in funding. Jenny and Feelingstream are still developing applications for Nordea.

On October 11, Nordea and Finextra jointly held Next Gen Banking-Nordic in Helsinki, Finland to exchange strategic ideas on digital disruption and transformation.