Rise has partnered with Barclays Africa to launch the Barclays Accelerator geared at nurturing startups in and around Cape Town, South Africa. The accelerator has been designed to catalyze the operations of fintech-focused startups.
By setting up camp in Cape Town, Barclays Accelerator will avail the necessary tools, knowledge, and technology that will help startups scale up their operations. The accelerator will run for 13 weeks, during which startups are set to benefit from world-class mentorship sessions.
Some of the mentors and seasoned professionals that have been identified to take part in the program include:
Bernardo Aparicio – Head Investment, Banking Coverage, Barclays Africa
Derek White – Chief Design & Digital Officer, Barclays
David Cohen – Founder & Managing Partner, Techstars
The startups will first be taken through a pre-mentoring session that will be held on Feb 22, 2016. The main accelerator program will be on March 28, 2016, and its conclusion slated for June 26, 2016, will be marked by an in-house demo. There will also be an external demo day to be held on June 30th, 2016.
Although the Barclays Accelerator will set up camp in Cape Town, South Africa, its doors will remain open to startup from within Cape Town, the rest of Africa and around the world. If you are one such startup that would like to pitch your idea at this program, you have up to until January 10th, 2016 to submit your application.
About Rise
Rise is a community focused on open innovation and hell-bent on helping the future of financial services. For more details, visit the Rise website.
About Barclays Accelerator
The Barclays Accelerator is organized by Barclays PLC, through the recently created Arise; a physical space and a digital field powered by Techstars. Prior to the Cape Town leg, the accelerator program also takes place in New York and London annually. The application for the London leg of the accelerator is still open. For more details head on to the Barclays Accelerator website.
