Two startups join the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator program
Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) announced today that it has selected two new
companies – ProxToMe
and Uniken
– to join the Wells
Fargo Startup Accelerator. Each participant in the non-exclusive,
six-month program is eligible to receive up to $500,000, mentoring, and
guidance in refining their potential breakthrough technologies for the
financial services industry. Wells Fargo business and technology leaders
will work closely with the companies to test concepts for corporate and
retail customers while helping them accelerate time to market for their
services.
With these additions, Wells Fargo has selected 13 companies in total
into the program with more to be announced soon. The bank is now
accepting applications worldwide through June 23 at www.wellsfargo.com/accelerator.
“Wells Fargo is always interested in innovative ideas that make banking
faster, easier, smarter and safer — for our customers and the financial
services industry,” said Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo’s Innovation
Group. “Security is ever-changing and top-of-mind for financial
services, and this collaboration with ProxToMe and Uniken helps
us nurture innovation while continuing to build a better customer
experience.”
Latest Companies:
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ProxToMe
(San Francisco) provides proximity-based authentication for the
Internet of Things. Its proprietary technology, based on Bluetooth,
can replace traditional card-based authentication with a contactless,
secure user experience. Unlike existing cardless technologies such as
NFC and QR Code, ProxToMe provides a frictionless experience and
cross-platform availability all in one solution.
“Working
with Wells Fargo allows us to significantly advance our work on new
proximity-based identity assurance solutions,” said Carlo Capello,
chief executive officer of ProxToMe. “The Startup Accelerator program
is a launching pad for us to strategically address emerging needs of
financial institutions and other fintech industry stakeholders.”
-
Uniken
(New Jersey) is a cybersecurity software company that ensures
customers’ digital channels have the controls required to survive
zero-day attacks. Through customer friendly, continuous omni-channel
authentication services combined with protection against failures of
the OS and transport layer, Uniken completely eliminates credential
compromise and man-in-the-middle attack risks. It provides one of the
most advanced white-listed connectivity controls that reduces the
attack surface of the digital channel, including encryption services
for data in motion and persistent local storage.
“We look
forward to evolving our solution as part of the Wells Fargo Startup
Accelerator program, as it is designed to explore big ideas like ours
that change the industry,” said Bimal Gandhi, chief executive officer
of Uniken. “We feel that Uniken's innovative approach to digital
channel security moves the needle from the reactive to the proactive,
dramatically reducing the attack surface of an organization’s
services.”
Wells Fargo’s Startup Accelerator team looks to work with innovators in
areas that include: analytics, mobile, cybersecurity, payments, lending,
user-interaction design, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented
reality, digital marketing, and operations. Wells Fargo pairs each
startup with a mentor who helps guide them through a proof of concept
engagement and provides education around the process of approaching and
selling products and services to a Fortune 500 company, as the demands,
scale, and requirements are unique for a company this size.
Since its inception in 2014, the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator has
received applications from more than 1,100 innovative companies in over
50 countries. Also, the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator was named a top
U.S. fintech accelerator by
eFinancialCareers
in March 2016.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based
financial services company with $2.0 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852
and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking,
insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance
through more than 8,500 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet
(wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and
territories to support customers who conduct business in the global
economy. With approximately 273,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one
in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was
ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest
corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’
financial needs and help them succeed financially. News, insights and
perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells
Fargo Stories.
