Billon selected for 2018 VC FinTech Accelerator Program Sponsored by FIS

FIS and The Venture Center announce the 10 startups selected to take part in the 2018 Venture Center (VC) FinTech Accelerator program, sponsored by FIS. Each company will receive a monetary investment along with in-depth mentoring and feedback from FIS executive leadership and leading financial institutions. In its third year, the VC FinTech Accelerator program drew 281 applicants from 47 countries.

(Little Rock, Ark., May 3, 2018) FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial services technology, and The Venture Center have announced the 10 startup companies selected to participate in the 2018 VC FinTech Accelerator program, now in its third year.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson as well as FIS executives and community leaders were in attendance to meet this year’s participants at a kickoff event held yesterday at The Venture Center.

Sponsored by FIS and the State of Arkansas, the VC FinTech Accelerator is focused on identifying and accelerating the development of early-stage financial technology ventures. The 2018 program received 281 applications from startups across the United States and 46 other countries. The 10 chosen firms are:

• Arcanum Technology – Athens, Ga.
• Billon Group – London
• Bucket – Santa Ana, Calif./Bentonville, Ark.
• Finvoice – San Francisco/New York City
• Gas POS – Birmingham, Ala.
• LexAlign PBC – Austin, Texas
• Pay Your Tuition, PYT Funds – Washington, D.C.
• SONECT AG – Zurich
• Upper Room Technology – Green Bay, Wis.
• Verikai – San Francisco

The selected companies will participate in a rigorous 12-week program designed to accelerate the development of their technology solutions. Each company will receive in-depth mentoring and training from FIS and The Venture Center as well as a monetary investment of $75,000.

“Congratulations to the 10 startups selected for this year’s program,” said Gary Norcross, FIS president and CEO. “The FinTech Accelerator is a key part of FIS’ broader innovation strategy to develop and invest in breakthrough technologies for our clients. We look forward to seeing the ideas that flow from this year’s participants.”

"This program provides invaluable exposure and go-to-market opportunities for the startups while introducing new technologies to financial institutions and companies that will enable them to better serve their customers,” said Wayne Miller, managing director of The Venture Center. “We're looking forward to another successful program supported by FIS, the State of Arkansas and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission."

The 2018 program will culminate with a Demo Day on July 18 at the Robinson Auditorium in Little Rock, where leaders from each of the participating firms will showcase their innovations to potential investors, regional and local community leaders and financial institutions and companies from across the country.

Participants of past VC FinTech Accelerator programs have raised a combined approximately $39 million in capital and several have entered into formal agreements with FIS. Four of the startups have established their headquarters in Little Rock.

About Billon

Billon has created a versatile distributed ledger technology that enables a new era of monetary and document transactions. The unique architecture relies on national currencies and stores money, documents and identity directly on-chain, fully protected by the power of blockchain. Billon works with clients through modular building blocks that already enabled solutions such as trusted document management, content monetisation and corporate motivation. Founded in 2012, Billon is an FCA registered eMoney institution with a global team of more than 100 professionals across its offices in the UK and Poland.

About FIS

FIS is a global leader in financial services technology, with a focus on retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, and outsourcing solutions. Through the depth and breadth of our solutions portfolio, global capabilities and domain expertise, FIS serves more than 20,000 clients in over 130 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 53,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that empowers the financial world, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.

Follow FIS on Facebook (facebook.com/FIStoday), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/fis) and Twitter (@FISGlobal).

For More Information

Fidelity National Information Services Ellyn Raftery, +1.904.438.6083, Chief Marketing Officer, FIS Global Marketing and Corporate Communications ellyn.raftery@fisglobal.com

Laura Chambers Waliski, 501.404.9875, Marketing Manager, The Venture Center laura@venturecenter.co