Alloy Labs Alliance

Our name says it all - we identify and invest in the leading bank technology companies, and are deeply entrenched in community banking to make sure the companies work effectively with our banks to deliver maximum value and impact. The ecosystem we’ve developed is our greatest strength and is why 100+ leading community banks have joined us, and also why leading technology entrepreneurs work with us.

Zukunft gestalten. Mit Weitblick investieren. Regionen stärken. Wir entwickeln neue Geschäftsmodelle und investieren in Start-ups. Als Teil der Genossenschaftlichen FinanzGruppe bauen wir ein „Beyond Banking“-Ökosystem, das konsequent die Lebenswelten unserer Kunden und Mitglieder in den Mittelpunkt stellt und regionale Strukturen stärkt. Im Kern unserer Arbeit stehen deshalb die Fragen: In welchen Lebenswelten bewegen sich Menschen heute und in Zukunft? Wie können wir unternehmerische Lösungen wertvoll und nachhaltig schaffen? Wo stecken neue Geschäftsmodelle in einer immer komplexer werdenden Welt? INVEST IN PEOPLE Wir investieren in Ideen von morgen mit nachhaltigem Mehrwert und einem spürbaren Impact auf alltägliche Lebensbereiche der Menschen. Durch strategische Investments in zukunftsfähige Geschäftsmodelle, fördern wir erfolgversprechende Start-ups innerhalb und außerhalb der Finanzgruppe und erweitern damit das genossenschaftliche Ökosystem. Unser Ziel ist es, Start-ups mit großem Potential zu entdecken, zu unterstützen und mit ihnen partnerschaftliche Beziehungen aufzubauen. Wir wollen Start-ups dabei helfen, ihr volles Potential auszuschöpfen und gleichzeitig die genossenschaftlichen Werte fördern. THINK BEYOND BANKING Wir gehen neue Wege und entwickeln mit unseren Partnern Geschäftsmodelle und Unternehmen. Vom Trendscouting über die Validierung ökosystemisch relevanter Geschäftsmodelle bis hin zur Markteinführung: In unserem Venture Builder vereinen wir jahrzehntelange Erfahrung einer der größten Bankengruppen Europas mit der Expertise von erfahrenen Entrepreneur:innen, Entwickler:innen und Designer:innen.

Seed support and investment for startups. The Seed Starter program supports startups during the Go-To-Market phase, and brings external projects under BCR’s wing. Why are we doing this? We are one of the most important financial groups of Romania. We believe in honest entrepreneurship and the creation of longstanding value. We have the resources and knowledge to support you. We want to help true entrepreneurs prosper in the long term. Our philosophy We’re a different kind of a seed fund. We want to help companies that are built for sustainable and lasting growth. If you just want to be rich and famous, don’t call us. But if you have a brilliant idea, a strong team and a clear plan, we’re here to help, inspire and educate you. Welcome to the era of long-game entrepreneurs. If you can convince us why your startup will still be here in 200 years, just like Erste, we will invest in you. How can you get involvedFintech: Help us expand our financial services portfolio with innovative products in segments where we aren’t yet present, or where our customer services are lagging behind or still have room for growth. Plugin Challenge: Connect your business to George, BCR’s banking app. It gives you the potential to reach almost 2 million users. Sustainability: Help us achieve a better tomorrow by combining your talent with modern technologies in the field of sustainability. Prosperity and support for business: We want to promote sustainable business not only in terms of the environment, but also to ensure the long-term success of companies and individuals.

Capital One Ventures starts with a deep understanding of Capital One's strategic priorities, markets and technologies. We seek out companies across industries and investment stages. We align with entrepreneurs on the strategic rationale for our investment. We then help our portfolio companies with guidance on product and business development, and engagement with Capital One. CAPITAL ONE Founded on the belief that the banking industry would be revolutionized by information and technology, Capital One is on a mission to help our customers succeed by bringing ingenuity, simplicity and humanity to banking. Still founder-led, Capital One is a Fortune 100 company offering consumer, small business and commercial financial services. Capital One is Changing Banking For Good: All-in on the Cloud Powered by machine learning & AI Committed to customers' succes OUR TEAM Based in San Francisco, New York and at Capital One's headquarters outside of Washington, DC, Capital One Ventures is a team of investors and operators with deep tech, data and financial services experience.

F10 is a global innovation ecosystem with offices in Zurich, Singapore, Madrid, Barcelona. We believe the fastest route to innovation lies in early collaboration between startups, incumbents and investors. Each stakeholder benefits from shared skills, experience and insight. Our founding sponsor is SIX, a global financial infrastructure provider and operator of the Swiss and Spanish stock exchanges. Today it is joined by a global cohort of influential banks, consultancies, insurers and tech firms. Connections that deliver Regular startup programs and industry events connect our stakeholders either digitally or in person at our four global hubs. More than face-time, the F10 team ensures everyone gets the most out of our ecosystem, from priming startups to work with investors, to providing an entrepreneurial environment for corporates to innovate.

QED is the premier VC in the fintech space. We are operators well regarded for our expertise, engagement, and empathy. We invest in businesses that disrupt and empower. Fintech is about leveraging the best aspects of technology – mobile adaptation, optimising data, agile tech build, and heightening rapid learning – to make financial services better for consumers – through driving adoption, reducing friction, and creating transparency. Fintech is doing all of this rapidly, cheaply, and in modular/flexible form. But at its core, it’s about solving a problem for a user. Our Philosophy On their own, small hurdles are often easy to overcome. But stacked together, many small hurdles can present an overwhelming challenge, even for the best founder. We call this .8^5. It’s our job to help companies improve their chances of success. Back to Basics If you know anything about us, you will know we are fanatically focused on unit economics. Curious about the other principles we hold near and dear? Our Investment Criteria We invest in early-stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. Our initial investment size typically is around $5M with significant reserves for follow-on. We keenly focus on talent. To build conviction around an investment, the company must have amazing leadership. This means that management is balanced and transparent, open to advice, and focused on unit economics. After all, Fintech is hard and we strive to work with CEOs who innately understand this. Founders who think they know all the answers are subject to stumble. We focus on companies who are unrelenting. Fintechs need to push through constant challenges in order to be true disruptors. The business must solve a real problem or create a palpable benefit for the user.Beware of technology zealots in search of a problem to solve. We are customer first in our thinking. The business must be thoughtful about managing opportunity and risk. Solving a narrower problem well is less risky, but often has less upside, than solving a bigger problem with a larger TAM. QEDis also hypothesis driven. We develop hypotheses, evaluate the universe of companies in the space, and apply full-court press to convert the best we can find. If we don’t reach a deal with a company we believe in, or if we don’t find one, we test further. Sometimes we will build it ourselves or assemble a team to build it and fund them from day zero. In that case, we tap into theCapital One diaspora – a now global network of industry leading business-builders with expertise in all aspects of financial services. We have had great success doing this through our Belay platform, building companies such as ClearScore, Wagestream, minu, MotoRefi, and two other companies that will be announced later this year, and we have scores of ideas in the pipeline.