Western Union and Techstars to Drive Payments Innovation
September 17 2018 - 4:15PM
Business Wire
30 early-stage international startups will be
mentored by corporate leaders to uncover creative payments
solutions that can be nimbly executed in a Fortune 500
environment
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in cross-border,
cross-currency money movement, and Techstars, a worldwide network
that helps entrepreneurs succeed, have come together to spur the
next generation of disruption in the fintech sector with a focus on
payments and seamless global money transfer. Over the next three
years, Western Union will work with Techstars to run a
mentorship-driven accelerator program and provide seed funding for
startups out of its new Denver-based headquarters. Each year, 10
startups will form a class that takes part in Techstars proven
accelerator program including interacting with and receiving
mentoring from Western Union executives.
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David Brown, Founder & Co-CEO of
Techstars (Photo: Business Wire)
“Through the accelerator program, we will mentor startups to
test their ideas, focus their concepts, and help them
bring-to-market innovative customer solutions to the ever-changing
financial industry,” said Hikmet Ersek, President & CEO at
Western Union. “By joining forces with Techstars, we will have
access to entrepreneurial talent to help us identify cutting-edge
technologies and approaches to solve customer pain points.”
According to PwC, the biggest engines of innovation are small
tech startups, with over $58.6 billion in funding going to more
than 4,500 startups in 2016. Building on this momentum, Western
Union’s accelerator will explore many of the industry’s new and
long-standing challenges with the unique value of leveraging both
the start-up industry’s leading minds complemented with the
corporate experience of Western Union’s executives.
“We are excited to work with a global company like Western Union
so we can foster the right connections for a multitude of startups
and help them gain access to the mentorship and resources they need
to succeed,” said David Brown, founder and Co-CEO of Techstars.
“Colorado is already one of the leading technology centers in the
world, led by companies like Western Union. Working together will
drive innovation and help change the fortunes of young innovators
locally and globally by bringing their ideas to life for people
around the world.”
With its headquarters in Boulder, Colo., Techstars has invested
in more than 1,400 early-stage startup companies that now have a
market cap of more than $15.9 billion. In addition, Techstars
produced the first startup from a tech accelerator to go public:
SendGrid.
Western Union and Techstars encourage all fintech, payments and
related field startups addressing digital customer experience,
point-of-sale solutions, fraud prevention, global identification,
cross-border transaction processing, digital wallets, and related
technologies to apply to the accelerator program, when applications
open on December 3, 2018. The program begins in June 2019.
Please visit www.techstars.com/programs/western-union-program
for more information about this program and to apply.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in
cross-border, cross-currency money movement. Our omnichannel
platform connects the digital and physical worlds and makes it
possible for consumers and businesses to send and receive money and
make payments with speed, ease, and reliability. As of June 30,
2018, our network included over 550,000 retail agent locations
offering Western Union, Vigo or Orlandi Valuta branded services in
more than 200 countries and territories, with the capability to
send money to billions of accounts. Additionally, westernunion.com,
our fastest growing channel in 2017, is available in 45 countries
and territories to move money around the world. In 2017, we moved
over $300 billion in principal in nearly 130 currencies and
processed 32 transactions every second across all our services.
With our global reach, Western Union moves money for better,
connecting family, friends and businesses to enable financial
inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit
www.westernunion.com.
About Techstars
Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs
succeed. Techstars founders connect with other entrepreneurs,
experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and
corporations to grow their companies. Techstars operates three
divisions: Techstars Startup Programs, Techstars Mentorship-Driven
Accelerator Programs, and Techstars Corporate Innovation
Partnerships. Techstars accelerator portfolio includes more than
1,400 companies with a market cap of $15.9 Billion.
www.techstars.com
WU-G
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180917005751/en/
Western Union Media ContactJennifer Pakradooni, +1
720-332-0516jennifer.pakradooni@wu.comorTechstars Media
ContactJoanie Kindblade, +1
303-562-6230Joanie.kindblade@techstars.com
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