At the Fintech Innovation Day, organized by Emprendimiento Tec at Tecnológico de Monterrey campus Guadalajara, the FAIR Center team has launched the activities of the FAIR Fintech Lab 2023 program, with the presence of some of the selected entrepreneurs from the call held between June and October of last year.
Professor Carlos Camacho, researcher at the FAIR Center and leader of the FAIR Fintech Lab initiative, welcomed representatives from ten out of the twenty startups that will be part of the program. They were present and took advantage of the day, which included workshops and networking opportunities.
"We are very excited to start these months of support and incubation. The goal is that, by the end of this period, your projects can develop different financial technologies to have a positive impact in Mexico, Latin America, and the world, making these technologies more accessible," Carlos Camacho said.
Among the activities that entrepreneurs will take advantage of during the next few months for the development of their fintech ideas are weekly consultations (via Zoom) with experts on topics such as crowdfunding, angel investors, capital raising, business idea generation, and more. Additionally, the Fintech Lab will provide access to in-person activities, including four networking events, two roundtable discussions with fintech professionals, twelve mentoring sessions, and five masterclasses. The initiative is made possible thanks to the support of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.
Additionally, professor Camacho announced that the selected startups will attend the Fintech Hub at the Querétaro campus and will reunite again for the Fintech Pitch around July 2024, at EGADE Santa Fe. During this event, they will present the developed and consolidated ideas of their startups to potential investors, which will also mark the end of the cycle of activities for the current year.
"Feel like winners. By being here, you were selected from a large group of participants in last year's call. Your ideas will be the ones to start transforming and improving our financial system, making it more accessible," added Verónica Salcedo, leader of the FAIR Center in the Western region.
Workshop "Where do I find the data to build my business case?"
During the same day of activities at the Fintech Innovation Day, the FAIR Center engaged the participants selected in the 2023 call for the FAIR Fintech Lab in the workshop "Where do I find the data to build my business case?" The workshop was conducted by Verónica Salcedo, leader of the Western region of the Center, and Tec Business School students Julio Verdeja and Daniel Moreno, interns at the Financial Innovation Laboratory of the Business Future Habitat at the Guadalajara campus.
During the workshop, participating entrepreneurs had the opportunity to explore the Bloomberg tool, software that provides financial information for decision-making. It allows functions such as securities analysis, market analysis, macroeconomic situations, or searching for stocks and companies traded on exchanges, commodities in the international market, financial statements, and economic forecasts.
Professor Salcedo also provided a quick overview of freely accessible platforms from organizations such as INEGI or the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), along with the data they provide and how to incorporate this information into building the fintech business case. This was done with the intention of familiarizing participants with mechanisms to strengthen their business proposals towards obtaining financing resources.
"For the FAIR Center, within the framework of the FAIR Fintech Lab, it is essential that the entrepreneurs supported by the program acquire tools that not only support their projects but also impact their personal development as entrepreneurs. The fintech ideas that will change the future of financial inclusion in Mexico can only emerge from them if there is the ability to act through first-hand, current, and relevant data," concluded Verónica Salcedo.