The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Enterprise Singapore and the National Research Foundation (NRF) announced that the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) and the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) would come together as SFF x SWITCH to synergise across the themes of FinTech and Deep Tech. SFF x SWITCH will run from 11 to 15 November 2019. 

SFF x SWITCH will bring insights from global thought leaders, showcase innovative solutions, and engage entrepreneurs, investors and innovators from around the world. It will also provide rich networking opportunities for participants to collaborate on technological innovation across five key sectors – FinTech, Urban Solutions and Sustainability, Health and Biomedical Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, and Digital Services. Participants can look forward to the following key events. 

Conference & Exhibition

Participants can gain access to the three-day Conference & Exhibition of both events, which will take place from 11 to 13 November 2019 at the Singapore Expo. The Conference will feature for the first time the theme of sustainability, and cover Financial Services; Industry 4.0 – Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud and Cybersecurity; Financial Inclusion; Green Finance; and Technology Beyond Finance. The Exhibition will feature country pavilions, industry exhibitors, financial industry showcase booths, and a startup zone. 

Competitions

There will be three Competitions for the global innovation community: 

• Global FinTech Hackcelerator, which matches innovative startup solutions to address industry’s problem statements;
• SLINGSHOT 2019, an international startup pitching competition; and
• FinTech Awards, which recognises innovative financial technology solutions.

40 Innovative Solutions Shortlisted for 2019 FinTech Awards 

The finalists were selected by a panel of industry judges from a total of 245 submissions. Many of the submissions from the growing FinTech community came from sectors such as RegTech, wealth management and cybersecurity. Financial inclusion was also a key area of focus amongst this year’s finalists, with a significant number of submissions geared towards improving banking access for underserved individuals as well as small and medium enterprises. 

The finalists will pitch their innovations during SFF x SWITCH, and compete for a total of S$1.2 million in prize money. The 40 finalists of the FinTech Awards will also be invited to a dedicated Deal Friday2 networking session organised by MAS and PwC Singapore just for them to showcase their innovations to investors.

Deal-Making Platforms

Investors and companies can have access to two Deal-Making Platforms: 

• Deal Fridays, curated deal-making sessions for facilitating investment into startups, that will run every Friday from 21 June to 25 October 2019; and 

• TechInnovation, a technology-to-industry matching marketplace that facilitates business matching within the industry, seeds licensing opportunities and fosters open innovation collaborations. 

Mr Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief FinTech Officer, MAS, said, “The Singapore FinTech Festival is the world’s largest FinTech gathering and a marquee event for the global FinTech community. Our partnership with SWITCH this year allows us to engage technology ecosystems beyond FinTech, and to present a comprehensive showcase of innovations that benefit all segments of society. We look forward to welcoming players from the FinTech and wider technology community from all over the world to Singapore, to connect, collaborate, and celebrate innovation.” 

Singapore FinTech Festival is organised by MAS, in partnership with The Association of Banks in Singapore, and in collaboration with SingEx Holdings. SWITCH is organised by Enterprise Singapore, NRF, and Intellectual Property Intermediary (IPI). Last year, the two events together drew close to 57,000 delegates from almost 130 countries. For more information on SFF x SWITCH 2019, please visit www.SFFxSWITCH.com.