Intuit and Highline Beta have partnered to launch another accelerator program, this time for startups specifically using artificial intelligence (AI) to help consumers and businesses with their finances.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to connect with a new network of AI technology innovators.”
Applications for the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator: AI are open until August 31, and the program will commence in October. The five-month program is aimed to accelerate the growth of seed-stage startups based in North America that use AI to power their financial solutions.
This is the second accelerator program launched by Highline Beta and Intuit in the last year, with the first being the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator, which was focused on tech startups with financial health-focused products.
The initial Prosperity accelerator program was launched in 2020 and accepted eight startups into its first cohort, including some notable Canadian tech companies, such as Willful, Dryrun, and Homewise.
The program does not require participants to give up equity, and will consider pre-seed and later-stage startups if they fit with the program’s themes and technology areas of interest, such as natural language processing, knowledge engineering, and machine learning algorithms.
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While Canada and the rest of the world are seeing a downward curve in COVID-19 cases as vaccination rates increase, the pandemic still continues to have a financial impact on Canadians. One survey from TransUnion found that approximately one-third of Canadian consumers say they expect their household income to be negatively impacted by COVID-19 in the future.
For businesses, the outlook has been generally positive according to recent surveys. One report from the Bank of Canada determined the pandemic has had an uneven impact on firms, with some increasing their cash holdings, while others continuing to accumulate debt.
“As we begin to emerge from an undoubtedly difficult year, the newly enterprising North American innovators will be the key to our economic recovery,” said David Marquis, vice president and Canada country manager at Intuit.
“Given the success of the Intuit Prosperity Accelerator throughout the pandemic, we’re excited about the opportunity to connect with a new network of AI technology innovators and equip them with additional solutions to build a brighter future.”
Image source Unsplash. Photo by Sigmund.