Memorable milestones with Vietnam's biggest fintech accelerator programme- FE XCELERATE

As the final stage of the fintech startup accelerator programme FE XCELERATE, FE CREDIT – Vietnam’s number-one consumer finance company – teamed up with MEDICI, a multinational company helping to bridge startups and investors, to organise Demo Day on March 26 at its headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City. The event has gathered industry-leading experts and FE Credit’s top leaders and evaluation board.

The event featured the presence of the eight best fintech startups that have accompanied FE CREDIT through its 12-week Accelerator Programme. After the development and innovation process, all gathered at Demo Day to present and showcase their products shaped with the help and guidance of fintech experts and top performers in consumer finance.

Fintech startups present their solutions to the experts at attendance

The Demo Day’s final round has ended with a total of 13 advanced technology solutions. As the last trip of the startup acceleration journey, the judges as well as industry experts will discuss and select the startup with the best and most suitable technology solution which will officially partner with FE CREDIT to make their digital technology solutions reality and launch it into the Vietnamese market.

The last stop of the competition completed in success with positive feedback. A representative from FE CREDIT shared, “The teams are dynamic and creative. We can feel the energy of these startups, which is great. But at the same time, what we are quite happy about is that they are practical with their feet on the ground. They understand what they need to do with these solutions.”

“We also believe that their organisational strength is critical, as is shown through a number of factors like their experience, their team, their management skills, or the number of people they have. Overall, we feel very confident with the quality of the eight startups we have shortlisted.”

The experts and the judging panel listening to the startups’ pitches

According to a representative from BankBuddy – one of the most promising eight candidates participating in Demo Day, to them, FE XCELERATE was a turning point for their business to reach the consumer finance sector and Vietnam’s emerging billion-dollar fintech market. Through the competition and support from FE CREDIT, they had a closer look at Vietnam’s fintech ecosystem and at how a startup developed into a top performer with high market share like FE CREDIT, transforming and positively impacting the country’s prospects as well as the finance-banking market.

The competition has left a great impression on the startup community, and has successfully spread the message "Propel your fintech startup" across Vietnam and the region.

Most memorable milestones of the FE XCELERATE journey

* September 2019 – FE CREDIT partnered with MEDICI to organise Vietnam's biggest fintech startup accelerator programme – FE XCELERATE – to accompany the fintech startup community.

The slogan "Propel your fintech startup" has drawn huge attention from global fintech startups. Albeit this was the inaugural year of the programme, FE XCELERATE had a successful beginning with the total number of fintech startup registrations surpassing the organisers' expectation: 172 participants (38 from Vietnam and 134 from abroad).

Memorable milestones illustration

* October 2019 – the 28 shortlisted teams from Vietnam and other countries continued to take part in Pitch Day where they presented their products and solutions directly to industry-leading experts and FE Credit’s senior managers panel.

* November 2019 – The Pitch Day qualifier ended with the best eight startups making their way into the most intense period of the race – the Accelerator Programme – lasting for 12 weeks. They had the opportunity to meet up with the FE CREDIT team, which joined them to make their fintech dream come true with valuable advice and a positive consulting environment.

* March 2020 – After 12 weeks of consultancy and innovation, the best startups have now refined their solutions and came up with 13 creative and distinguished ideas to showcase to the judging panel at the last stop of the Acceleration Journey – Demo Day.

* Hereby, FE CREDIT and leading experts have discussed to choose the "most suitable" startup to accompany and bring the fintech solution dream into reality by offering the most optimal solution to Vietnamese consumers.

According to FE CREDIT representative Dmitry Sapronov, FE XCELERATE is just the first initiative for them to get far more formally involved in the startup scene.

“We can all expect to deploy more such programmes in the future, where we can engage into more comprehensive solutions with diverse startups and hopefully together bring the best solutions to the market,” he said.