YES Bank unveils selected startups for ISME ACE accelerator program

YES Bank-backed ACE Accelerator Program has finalised its first cohort of 6 startups. The program was initiated by Indian School of Management and Entrepreneurship (ISME).

The six startups have been selected from over 500 applications across 23 countries. The selected startups will raise funds from the bank.

ISME ACE has also partnered with Microsoft, IBM, AWS, Indian Angel Network, TiE, LetsVenture and KPMG among others for building the accelerator support ecosystem, reports ET.

The institute has also invested a seed capital of $100,000 to $200,000 per startup in exchange for a minority shareholding.

The bank aims to create a network of 90-100 startups in the next three years.

The six selected startups include Moneytor, Open Financial, Trendlyne, Artoo, CashCow, and SmartCoin. These companies are at a revenue-generating level with market-ready products or services.

The incubator is at an inflection point owing to new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, IoT, big data, IndiaStack, and others.

The accelerator aims to tackle challenges like growth and scale by promoting and investing in disruptive B2B and B2C fintech startups. “Since both require a substantial amount of time, value and resources, a distribution channel like YES Bank could help them achieve these more easily,” said Raakhe Kapoor Tandon, Founder of ISME ACE to ET.

Besides offering benefits and support to the selected startups, the accelerator aspires to co-create and co-innovate through the programme.

Also Read: YES BANK to kickstart second cohort of its fintech startups program

Launched in June last year, ISME ACE mentors and guides early stage startups on starting a company with products and solutions that can be scaled and utilised in traditional financial organisations as well.

Earlier in March 2017, YES FINTECH had announced 12 startups, who joined its inaugural cohort. It had then received 750+ applications from 18 countries apply to the program.