Knowledge sharing contributing to the ecosystem
It was a week of sharing expertise and insights across the ecosystem this week with Fintech Saudi and the first look and mentoring event with PwC startups on the Growth X accelerator
The week kicked off with a masterclass for the current Flat6Labs Riyadh cohort with Fintech Saudi on AML/CFT frameworks for Saudi Arabia and applicable regulatory guidelines by Punit Jain Financial Crime Compliance at PwC Middle East . Together with the group of Fintechs, Punit explored financial crimes, sanctions, the concept of fraud and fraud risk management and other fundamental and weighty
According to the programme manager Iskander Haouam
‘The cohort benefited a lot from the session, ended up asking many questions, such an intensive topic was summarized and presented in a limited time in such a smooth and clear manner.’
Meanwhile a full PwC team of experts from payments, fintech, front office transformation, ventures and legal spent a full a evening of speed mentoring with a select group of Fintechs carefully selected from Fintech Saudis rapidly growing ecosystem which in its latest report has 155 fintechs, which is phenomenal growth since its launch with 14 fintechs in 2018
This week there was a chance to reflect on PwC Middle East efforts to promote innovation and support pioneering start-ups in the logistics domain, with the launch of the highlights video on the platform, capturing all the action from one of the mentor evenings at the experience centre in PwC offices in Emaar Square.
The week wrapped up with the first session between startups, PwC mentors and sponsor partner Mark Stanley deep diving into the financial inclusion challenges set for startups successful Microsoft Growth X Cohort 2 where 21 startups made the cut from over 1000 applications on this years accelerator.
On the PwC challenges, Mark Stanley highlighted the importance of frictionless banking experience for SMEs, value-added services to employers and employees using bank payroll solutions and the need to augment mobile banking & financial services to low-income expatriate workers.
Startups had their first opportunity to pitch their solution and get initial feedback from mentors before they had into their twelve weeks of masterclasses on go to market, financials, sales, branding an PR, legal and IP, Hiring and people culture which PwC will also contribute experts to throughout the 12 weeks.