Top Fintech
innovation programs
connecting startups with corporates

Last updated 14 July 2026
Michèle Richner, Managing Partner, Tenity

What a fintech innovation program actually is

A fintech innovation program is defined as a structured initiative that matches startups with financial institutions, manages the pilot process, and carries the relationship through to a commercial outcome or investment. That’s different from a demo day or a mentorship track, which typically end once the introductions are made.

The three stages that matter

Sourcing

A program has to bring the right startups to the table for a specific institution’s problem, not just a general pool of fintech companies. This is where named, ongoing partnerships matter more than raw startup counts: a bank wants to know a program understands its actual mandate, not just that it has a large directory.

Piloting

This is where most programs stop adding value. A pilot needs a defined scope, a timeline, and someone managing the relationship on both sides, otherwise it drifts. Zero-equity, structured pilot formats tend to move faster than open-ended accelerator cohorts, because there’s no pressure to force a demo day deadline before the pilot is actually ready.

Scaling

The rarest stage. Getting from a successful pilot to a signed commercial contract, or an investment, requires a partner who can act on both sides of that decision, not just facilitate the introduction and step back.

How Tenity runs this in practice

Most of Tenity’s work with financial-institution partners doesn’t take the shape of a public, structured program. It’s ongoing deal flow sharing, curated sourcing insight, and targeted 1:1 matching between startups and a specific partner’s mandate, run under confidentiality that means the details of most individual engagements aren’t publishable.

Two structured programs currently running publicly are Visa Innovation Program Europe, co-run with Eleven Ventures and live across 15 European markets, and the Singapore Financial Infrastructure Innovation Program, run with Ripple.

Scale across the model: $140M+ in assets under management, 100+ corporate innovation programmes delivered, and 65+ corporate partners globally.

Where this fits in the wider field

Plug and Play remains the largest cross-industry innovation platform in the world, with a network of 500+ corporate partners spanning fintech alongside more than 20 other sectors, and a genuinely global footprint across 60+ locations. For a startup that wants the broadest possible corporate exposure, that scale is a real advantage.

Programs built specifically around financial services take a narrower but more concentrated approach. The Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab draws its mentor committee directly from partner banks including Goldman Sachs, Citi and JPMorgan. Founders Factory co-builds fintech companies alongside named partners like Aviva and Mediobanca rather than accepting pre-formed startups. Tenity’s model sits in this category too: every hub and programme is built around financial services specifically, rather than fintech competing for attention alongside other industries.

Key takeaways

The strongest fintech innovation programs are judged on three stages: sourcing, structured piloting, and getting to a commercial or investment outcome, not just introductions.
Most of Tenity’s partner work is confidential deal flow and 1:1 matching. Visa Innovation Program Europe and the Singapore Financial Infrastructure Innovation Program, run with Ripple, are structured programs currently running publicly.

Fintech-exclusive programs (Tenity, the Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab, Founders Factory) take a narrower, more concentrated approach than large cross-industry platforms like Plug and Play, which offers broader reach across many sectors at once.