FinTech Consortium Announces Flagship North American Location and USA Chairman
DETROIT, July 16, 2018 - Global firm FinTech Consortium today announced plans to open Detroit FinTech Bay, its flagship North American FinTech hub and incubator. The hub will be housed in a renovated former bank building at 44 West Michigan Avenue, located in the heart of Detroit’s central business district. In addition, FinTech Consortium named Rick Frisbie as chairman of its North American operations.
Frisbie is the former chairman of RobustWealth, a FinTech startup focused on robo-advisory which grew successfully and was acquired in June 2018 by Principal Financial Group. Prior to RobustWealth, Frisbie served for over 20 years in a number of senior positions with Franklin Templeton, including Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Franklin Templeton Solutions.
The FinTech Consortium is expanding its FinTech hub model after international success in Bahrain and Singapore. Gerben Visser, founder of FinTech Consortium said, “We are pleased to work towards accelerating Detroit’s position in the FinTech ecosystem. The new hub will further the development and acceleration of FinTech startups, as well as foster interaction between investors, entrepreneurs, government bodies, and financial institutions. Moreover, we are very pleased to announce the appointment of Rick Frisbie as our chairman to assist us with expansion into the United States.”
“Detroit was chosen for the flagship North American location because of the region’s raw talent for innovation and technology,” said Frisbie. “Blockchain and other FinTech solutions are disrupting society much like the auto industry did a century ago. Detroit has all the right ingredients to be significant in this growing market, and it’s an ecosystem I’m energized to join and nurture.”
Detroit FinTech Bay is a dedicated FinTech coworking space, and a platform-neutral incubator, meaning there is not one sponsor or bank, but many. “We’re looking for businesses who want in on the next generation of innovation, and entrepreneurs of excellence who are poised for success with the right support,” said Maissan Almaskati, managing partner of FinTech Consortium and resident metro Detroiter. “Our model of bringing together banks and corporations alongside startups has proven to accelerate creativity and growth for everyone involved.”
FinTech Consortium will bring together a local team to manage the hub, as well as integrate Detroit FinTech Bay into its global partner network and FinTech platforms such as BlockOn, InsurByte, RegFact, and others.
A key mission of Detroit FinTech Bay will be to drive collaboration between the great minds creating innovative FinTech solutions, and the institutions who need those solutions. Within the space, the community of residents, investors, and institutions will thrive through leadership courses and activities, monthly classes, hackathons, demo days, pitch practice, mentorship relationships, and more. Talent development, education and access to investment capital are additional hallmarks of the FinTech hub model.
Renovations on the 1938 building will be underway later this summer. Detroit FinTech Bay will occupy the basement and second level of the former bank building, retaining vaults and much of the original character in the design. State of the art facilities, including dedicated offices and desks, hot desks, private meeting rooms, communal areas, and a variety of other shared infrastructure, make it the ideal hub for local and international corporate innovation labs and FinTech startups.
Detroit FinTech Bay is scheduled to open in early 2019, and its leaders expect the partnerships and resident space to be filled in advance of the opening.
Businesses and financial institutions interested in becoming founding or corporate partners, or in incubating new innovations, as well as startups interested in becoming residents of the 20,000 square foot coworking space can now submit an application by clicking here.
