Plug and Play, the largest global innovation platform, and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the leading international financial centre based in Abu Dhabi, have kicked off their second fintech accelerator and innovation program in the Middle East. Currently, they are partnered with BNP Paribas, Boubyan Bank, Finablr Group, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), and Riyad Bank. These corporate partners are part of Plug and Play's global ecosystem, amongst more than 80 financial institutions across Silicon Valley, New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Frankfurt.

"After the tremendous success of our first fintech accelerator batch last year, we are incredibly excited and motivated to continue bringing value to the financial services sector in the GCC. The local and international startups participating in this upcoming batch will continue to provide value to key financial institutions in the region, and we look forward to cultivating impactful engagements with our corporate partners." said Omeed Mehrinfar, Managing Partner, EMEA at Plug and Play.

The nine fintech startups that have been selected to participate in Plug and Play ADGM's three-month accelerator will have the opportunity to work alongside the financial institutions for a possibility to execute POC or pilot projects. There is no cost for the startups to be in the program and they will remain part of the ecosystem post-graduation.

The Plug and Play ADGM accelerator program will begin on March 26th, 2019 with the selected startups residing at ADGM's co-working space in Abu Dhabi.

The selected fintech startups are as follows:

API Fortress: API Fortress is a versatile testing platform for any company that relies on application programming interfaces (APIs). It creates and automates functional tests, virtualizes APIs, and performs load tests. It also saves time with automated test generation, collaborates with an intuitive interface, and validates deployments to identify problems before your customers or partners.

Cygnetise: Cygnetise is a digital platform built to help organizations maintain and distribute their authorized signatory lists (ASL) in a more secure, efficient and auditable manner. Utilizing blockchain technology, the platform alleviates the pain associated with managing ASLs through its intuitive peer to peer network.

Cyr3con: Cyr3con uses artificial intelligence and dark web information to provide proactive cyber threat intel. A robust API enables multiple next-generation prediction applications. Predictive patching and prediction of specific cyber attacks are two such use cases. Cyr3con also supports current darkweb use-cases through advanced search (i.e. brand protection, leaked data search).

IDNow: IDNow is the world’s fastest, most flexible and most secure identity verification platform. Designed to meet specific needs, the platform offers complete flexibility across a wide range of KYC services, from fully automated to agent-assisted solutions. Using a combination of artificial intelligence, facial recognition and machine learning, it delivers instant verification of the identity documents used by seven billion people.

Labiba: Labiba is an artificial intelligence and robotic process automation company specialized in building virtual agents. These virtual agents can emulate human actions in executing business processes and interacting with customers.

Merit Incentives: Merit Incentives provides gifts, rewards and engagement strategies using innovative technologies. This includes gift registry, gift cards, merchandises, and employee & customer rewards with over 400 retailers and service providers across 10 countries in the MENA region.

Narrativa: Narrativa was founded with the mission of making the world's data understandable. Narrativa transforms data into natural language through artificial intelligence. So far they have enjoyed important success in the media and e-commerce sectors and are expanding into financial services.

Silot: Silot empowers banks with a fast and scalable artificial intelligence platform. Their technology helps banks by integrating siloed systems onto the Silot Banking Platform, and transforming data into knowledge and actionable insights across various use cases, enabling banks to better serve their retail and business customers.

Token: Token provides software to banks enabling them to support open APIs, as well as software to developers enabling them to use a single API to access thousands of banks. Token provides the tools to deliver best-in-class data access and payments use cases, and better open banking propositions.

If you are a financial institution looking to work with innovative fintechs disrupting the industry, or a startup enabling the advancement of the financial sector in the MENA region, get in touch today to learn about our programs: MENA@pnptc.com.

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