Spain-based financial services group BBVA launched its eighth Open Talent competition on Tuesday, with a combined $180,000 ($200,000) to go to six fintech entrepreneurs.
The competition is open to early-stage startups around the world with less than €2.5m of existing backing and €1.5m of annual revenue. Regional finals will take place in Mexico, New York and London, from which six winners will be chosen.
Each winner will receive €30,000 and two non-consecutive weeks’ immersion with BBVA in Madrid and Mexico City to receive advice from their executive teams and associates, and to explore business prospects.
The judges will be looking for scalable ideas with the ability to transform financial services, a good team and strong business model.
Winners in BBVA’s 2015 Open Talent scheme included Everledger, a blockchain registry for valuables, corporate bond origination platform Origin Markets and credit scoring technology provider Destacame. Registrations for the competition will close on June 27.