Polsky Center, PNC Incubator to Host 2017 numo FinTech Challenge at the University of Chicago

The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago and numo, a technology incubator affiliated with PNC Bank, are pleased to announce the 2017 numo FinTech Challenge at the University of Chicago. The numo FinTech Challenge is a new addition to the Polsky Center’s growing financial technology (‘FinTech’) program portfolio.

The numo FinTech Challenge is a university competition designed to generate innovative ideas in financial services. Top ideas will be awarded portions of a $16,000 prize pool. Applicants retain the IP rights to ideas submitted in the competition. Winners may have the opportunity to join numo as an intern or full time employee to help build out the idea, or work on an existing idea in the numo portfolio.

“PNC and numo are excited to give students at the University of Chicago a platform to bring forward innovative fintech ideas.  We believe the unique perspectives of students and academics combined with the assets of an incumbent bank can be a very powerful match,” said David Passavant, chief executive officer at numo and head of innovation at PNC Bank. “Chicago is home to word class intellectual capital and a major growth market for PNC.”

While the University of Chicago and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business have been leaders in finance for decades, the Polsky Center is serving as a coordinating body for cross-campus activities to support FinTech, as well as the growing fields of insurance technology (“InsurTech”) and regulation technology (“RegTech”). The Polsky Center supports companies in these fields with specialized education, training, and mentoring opportunities – as well as serving as a coduit for integration into the wider community through relevant industry partnerships and intra-university collaborations in Chicago and globally.

“It’s an exciting time for the FinTech community in Chicago, and the Polsky Center is an active participant in it,” said E.J. Reedy, director at the Polsky Center and coordinator of the FinTech program. “We are thrilled to partner with PNC Bank and numo to expand opportunities for early-stage FinTech companies.”

Teams selected for the numo FinTech Challenge will take part in a pitch competition to be held in Chicago the week of January 22, 2018. The winning team will take home a cash prize of $10,000, with additional cash prizes options available for subsequent teams.

An information session and quick pitch will be held on Thursday, November 9 at 5:00 p.m. at Polsky Exchange North (1452 E 53rd St, Chicago, IL 60615).

To learn more and sign up for the challenge, please visit challenge.numo.com.

Key Dates

Registration Opens November 9, 2017, 8 a.m. CT
Registration Closes December 20, 2017, 11:59 p.m. CT
Round 1 Submissions Due January 2, 2018, 11:59 p.m. CT
Advancing Teams Announced January 8, 2018
Final Pitch (TBD) Week of January 22, 5 p.m.- 9 p.m.

 

About numo
numo is a fintech incubator in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a wholly owned subsidiary of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.  The name numo comes from the word numismatics- the study or collection of currency. numo collaborates with technical academics and entrepreneurs to incubate banking technology products and companies. Visit us at www.numo.com

 

About the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation drives venture creation and technology commercialization within the University of Chicago and the surrounding community. Through education, partnerships, and new venture support, the Polsky Center advances the knowledge and practice of entrepreneurship and accelerates the commercialization of research. Among its offerings is the top-ranked accelerator program, the Edward L. Kaplan, ’71, New Venture Challenge, which is where companies like Grubhub and Braintree got their start. Since 1996, the New Venture Challenge has helped launch more than 160 companies worldwide that have gone on to achieve more than $4 billion in mergers and exits and raised over $575 million in funding. The Polsky Center helps students, faculty, staff, alumni, researchers and local entrepreneurs navigate the complex process of creating and growing a startup. Its resources include a 34,000 square-foot, multi-disciplinary co-working space called the Polsky Exchange; an Innovation Fund that invests in early-stage ventures; and a state-of-the-art Fabrication Lab for prototyping new products. By leveraging the University’s distinctive strengths in research and a combined research budget of more than $1.5 billion from its three affiliates—Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab and the Marine Biological Laboratory—the Polsky Center paves the way for more ideas to have a meaningful impact on society.

*The UChicago Innovation Fund was renamed the George Shultz Innovation Fund in recognition of the honorable George P. Shultz.

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