Vouchr, the Toronto-based developer of a digital gifting platform, has joined the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator, which aims to assist startups inside the finance industry.
Startups in the program are eligible to receive up to $1 million in funding, along with guidance from business and technology mentors at Wells Fargo. New York-based OpenRisk Technologies, based in Franklin Park, has also joined the six-month program, which brings the number of companies in the portfolio to 21.
“Differentiated and unique mobile consumer experiences that elevate basic money transfer and bring people closer together are key to attracting new and keeping current clientele,” Suresh Bhat, chief operating officer at Vouchr said. “Joining the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator is an opportunity to help us scale our technology globally.”
“Joining the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator is an opportunity to help us scale our technology globally.”
Vouchr aims to make P2Ps, gift cards, and reward systems a more interactive process by ‘gamifying’ the experience and including challenges for users to complete, further increasing customer loyalty. In 2017, Vouchr won $1 million USD at VentureClash, a global investment challenge; of the finalists, Vouchr was the only Canadian company.
“Helping to advance innovative fintech startups plays an important role in our efforts to deliver the financial experiences of tomorrow that customers demand,” said Lisa Frazier, head of the Innovation Group at Wells Fargo. “We welcome OpenRisk and Vouchr to the Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator program and applaud the passion, agility, and focus they bring to create innovative solutions and unique customer experiences. Innovation is critical within financial services, and we’re excited to invest in and collaborate with these companies, and all our accelerator companies, to reimagine financial services.”
The Wells Fargo Startup Accelerator program started in 2014. Since then, the program has received about 2,400 applications from companies in 91 countries.
Disclosure: BetaKit Editor-in-Chief Douglas Soltys previously worked at Vouchr in 2012.
Featured image via Pixabay.
