After a successful run as its first pilot competition, the financial technology sector is up again for startups to land deals through the NXSTAGE program of Wichita entrepreneurial organization NXTUS.
The group on Thursday officially opened the FinTech competition for 2021 alongside local sponsors Fidelity Bank and Emprise Bank.
The contest is open to startups from around the world to pitch their financial technology (FinTech) ideas and innovations for sales-driving implementation with institutions in Wichita and beyond.
“We are excited to continue our participation with NXTUS as a founding program partner,” Matt Michaelis, CEO of Emprise Bank, said in a press release. “Through the NXTSTAGE Pilot Competition, we have had the opportunity to engage with numerous startup companies from all over the world, each bringing an advanced solution along with diverse perspectives and backgrounds. These conversations and pilot programs have driven our innovative culture forward. We are excited to collaborate with this year’s cohort of startups.”
While the pandemic parred down the competition plans for NXTSTAGE in 2020, the FinTech competition continued, with Emprise awarding funding to overall winner Griffin Technologies out of Kansas City and Wamego-based Bellwethr.
Fidelity also awarded Griffin, as did Wichita’s Intrust Bank, to give the company a competition sweep among its 2020 founding partners.
But innovation never stops, said Fidelity CEO Aaron Bastian, who hopes the competition helps similar startup companies emerge in 2021.
“With the last competition, we experienced first-hand how the entrepreneurial spirit is powering the positive disruption of the financial services industry,” he said. “Since then, the needs of our customers have further evolved. For us, the innovation spotlighted by NXTSTAGE empowers our efforts to build a stronger technological backbone, deliver truly integrated experiences and cultivate a more robust startup ecosystem right here in our home town.”
Applications for the 2021 competition are available online.
Last year’s contest saw 263 applicants, with four companies ultimately awarded funding and partnerships.
“NXTSTAGE is powered by forward-thinking organizations that believe Kansas can be a great proving ground for promising technologies,” said the program’s executive director Mary Beth Jarvis, “These competitions help advance the innovation culture in our region and alert smart young companies in the region and around the world that they have the chance to grow their business here.”
NXTUS last month announced that a similar pilot competition for community health and vibrancy would be held in 2021 in partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas.
The organization had originally planned contests for financial technology. community health and manufacturing when it rebranded from e2e in early 2020 before the impact of Covid-19.
