BNP Paribas International Hackathon organised in 8 countries around the world at the same time!
Having in mind the great popularity of the event in 2015, when the hackathon was held in five countries at the same time, the organisers decided to run it with even greater panache this year.
The hack day took place on 17–19 June in eight countries at the same time: the United States (San Francisco), the United Kingdom (London), France (Paris), Belgium (Brussels), Italy (Rome), Germany (Berlin), Turkey (Istanbul), and Poland (Warsaw). 96 start-ups submitted their applications, engaging more than 350 experts on the side of BNP Paribas.
For whom?
BNP Paribas International Hackathon was aimed at IT specialists dealing with new technologies that could contribute to the development of the banking and financial sectors. The teams competed fiercely, determined to create the best solutions around this year’s main theme, that is, “Streamlining the customer journey through co-creation with start-ups.” Throughout the weekend (the hackathon lasted from Friday through Sunday), the participants were in constant remote contact, with ongoing support additionally provided by the numerous experts on the organiser’s side (including both IT specialists and individuals related to the financial sector as well as management and marketing).
The originator, organiser and sponsor of the event was Thierry Laborde – Deputy Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas and Head of Domestic Markets. 18 teams qualified for the second phase called The Digital Bootcamp, during which the teams will work on developing their projects for five months.
Winners from Poland
In Warsaw, nine start-ups competed against each other in enhancing the purchasing process. From among the Polish teams, two got through to the second stage of the contest.
One of them is Autenti Sp z o.o., with its offices in Poznań and Kraków, which offers a platform for approving documents and signing contracts online aimed at achieving greater sales, faster customer service, and greater customer satisfaction. Autenti representatives won over the chairman of the Polish jury (Jaromir Pelczarski, Vice President of the Management Board of BGŻ BNP Paribas) with their idea for streamlining business processes – simple online contract signing seems to be an ideal solution for a bank wanting to acquire new customers more easily, and replacing paper documents with digital ones will without doubt help reduce bureaucracy and service costs. Grzegorz Wójcik (CEO of Autenti) claims that thanks to the solutions they offer the time required to sign a contract with a customer will be reduced from several days to several minutes – during the codefest the team presented the possibility of integrating Autenti’s solution with the bank’s systems.
The second team that qualified for the second phase of BNP Paribas International Hackathon is Wrocław-based Indata S.A., offering advanced ICT solutions and comprehensive software supported by professional business consultancy. Indata presented an innovative approach to consumer marketing that, according to the jury, can lead to creating new value for the bank’s customers. The Viral Funding app created during the hackfest uses channels of social media both to generate leads as well as provide data about customers, and it can also serve as a tool for charity fundraising for public benefit organisations. The approach proposed by Indata strongly focuses on the customer and their individual needs. Alongside solutions useful for corporate banking, other winning apps from the first phase of the contest included a US team’s proposal for a mobile app that helps teenagers understand what saving for investment is all about.
The hackathon’s final
The business objective of BNP Paribas International Hackathon is to initiate long-term cooperation between start-ups and banks and their related companies. The final will be held on 2 December in Paris, followed by the Demo Day gala during which the winners will be announced. The winners will then embark on a long-term partnership with the organisers – we keep our fingers crossed for all the finalists and the two Polish teams in particular!
If the subject area of finances is among your company’s or your personal interests, you cannot miss another hackathon related to banking and new technologies. You can read about it here (Post / Bank Hackathon starting on 30 September 2016 in Germany).