OTP Startup Program: 9 startups from 6 European countries will benefit from the assistance of OTP Bank experts

Cristina Blanaru Business, Marketing, Start Up

Over 300 companies from 65 different countries have applied for the second edition of the international program OTP Startup. Nine post-product/market fit startups and scale-ups were invited to join the program and, over the next three months, they will have the opportunity to test their products and services with the help of several bank departments. OTP Startup Program is a result of OTP Group’s objective to support entrepreneurship, in order to contribute to the development of the local business environment.

Startups all around the world were invited to submit their application, starting last October, in 5+1 focus areas: Advanced data & analytics tool, Customer experience and servicing, Internal efficiency, Open banking and security, Product innovations, and other innovative solutions that do not fit into these categories, yet are useful to the financial sector. Following a thorough analysis of all the applications, online interviews with the applicants and presentations of the businesses and development projects of a selected 30, a professional jury chose the 9 most promising startup and scaleup companies.

The selected companies will have the chance to further develop their solutions in pilot projects implemented jointly with OTP Bank and to demonstrate how their products or services suit the banking environment. In addition, they will attempt to prove their maturity and readiness to develop a long-term cooperation with the banking group.

The main target group of the programme comprised more mature businesses that are working on comprehensive developments transcending the scope of classic product innovation, which can provide long-term support for the bank’s efforts to increase the efficiency of its operations and to cater for an even wider range of customer needs. Over the three months of the programme, we seek to provide the highest level of professional support for the businesses involved, developing the closest possible cooperation with them

András Fischer,

head of OTP Bank’s Retail Innovation Department

These year’s selected participants are from 6 countries and their projects range from HR and customer experience, to innovative solutions and internal efficiency:

  • Alyne SaaS (Germany) is developing a digital platform for efficient legal compliance and risk management;
  • SymbaSync (UK) supports the innovative management of HR processes by establishing a new foundation for recruitment processes;
  • Staffino (Slovakia) focuses on improving customer service through an innovative customer feedback solution, which is key to maintaining quality and employee motivation;
  • Talk-A-Bot (Hungary) is working on a platform that supports the development of chatbots fulfilling a wide range of functions as well as the automation of customer service tasks;
  • Tresorit (Hungary) has developed a multi-award-winning, secure, cloud-based storage and file sharing solution for confidential files;
  • Evrotrust (Bulgaria) provides services related to remote customer identification and electronic authentication, which may open new horizons in the field of online banking;
  • Kasko (UK) provides assistance for insurance companies and their partners in developing flexible and innovative insurance services;
  • Bluecode (Austria) seeks to further simplify mobile phone-based payment in stores with its mobile payment system based on barcode scanning;
  • HeatVentors (Hungary) designed an innovative, phase change heat storage system that can transform the cooling and heating of office buildings.

Starting early March, the 9 finalists began their activities with multi-level support from OTP Bank and will also take part in three thematic weeks including training sessions, workshops and individual mentoring sessions – customized to their previously surveyed needs. On May 23rd, at Demo Day, the companies will present to a wider audience the lessons learned and the results achieved during the pilot period.

OTP Startup is a program developed by OTP LAB, OTP Bank’s innovation hub.