Guernsey’s first-ever fintech hackathon, co-organised by Startup Guernsey and the Digital Greenhouse, is set to take place 9-11 October in St Peter Port.
The 48-hour challenge will see individuals and teams from the island’s business and technology communities collaborate to create technological solutions for Guernsey’s financial services sector.
The event is sponsored by KPMG, with prizes for the most creative and innovative of those solutions sponsored by C5 Alliance. The prizes will include access to professional services, mentorship and skills that will help take the winning ideas to the next level.
More than 50 individuals from 20 local businesses in the local professional services and technology sectors attended the recent launch of the event at KPMG in St Peter Port.
Jennifer Strachan, CEO of Startup Guernsey, said the event is about inspiring participation in the burgeoning area of fintech. "Hackathons are all about stimulating collaboration, sometimes between unlikely bedfellows, to inspire new ideas that are of benefit to a wider cause or community.
"Guernsey has immeasurable potential to excel in the fintech space, primarily because of its track record in traditional financial services. By pairing some of our best and brightest in that industry with the island’s promising digital talent we hope to begin to tap into this.
"Startup Guernsey is committed to supporting and inspiring local entrepreneurship and seeing our island diversify its offering. This is one platform of many to sustain this goal and we hope it kick starts many interesting projects that continue long after the event itself.”
The next in a series of informal networking events being held in the run-up to the hackathon will take place on 23 September.
The FinTech Hackathon will take place from 7pm on Friday 9 October. Entries for teams and individuals can be made online at Eventbrite. More information on the event can be found at Digital Greenhouse Guernsey.
Pictured (L-R): Matt Thornton (C5 Alliance), Neale Jehan (KPMG), Jennifer Strachan (Startup Guernsey) and Mike Culverwell (Digital Greenhouse)