November 1, 2012 – NEW YORK – Gust, the international investor relations platform integrating essential collaboration tools for both entrepreneurs and investors, was honored as the global “Most Innovative Financial Technology Company” by SWIFT’s Innotribe Startup Challenge at the SIBOS 2012 conference in Osaka, Japan.
The Innotribe 2012 Challenge was a year-round program that featured three Regional Showcase competitions in North America, Asia and Europe, at which participants gathered for insightful discussion of emerging innovations and regional showcases to discover the most innovative startups and innovators in financial technology. The regional events culminated in a final round competition at SWIFT’s SIBOS 2012 conference, bringing together over 6,000 participants for the banking industry’s leading annual gathering.
Gust, whose platform has been adopted as the official collaboration network of the national business angel federations in 15 countries, was voted “Top Innovator” out of a field 400 companies at the Regional Showcases, which was narrowed to 15 finalists invited to compete for the top prize at SIBOS. Over 150,000 entrepreneurial startups in 195 countries are already using Gust to manage their relations with over 40,000 investors from over 1,000 business angel networks and venture capital funds.
"By selecting Gust as the Top Innovator for 2012, Innotribe has confirmed our vision of a single, comprehensive, global platform for early-stage equity financing, integrated with the world's existing banking and investment institutions" said David S. Rose, Founder and CEO of Gust. "We very much look forward to working with SWIFT and its members to continue deploying the Gust platform in support of the entrepreneurship and innovation economy around the world."
SWIFT, the financial messaging provider for over 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 210 countries, established the Innotribe Startup Challenge to foster innovation in the financial industry by introducing leading product and service providers in FinTech and financial services to leading angels, VCs, and decision makers among SWIFT’s 10,000-plus member community.
Judges for the challenge evaluated the candidates based on criteria including novelty and innovation, market potential, commercial viability, and team. Candidates were assessed on how the product or service presents a new and novel approach to solve a recognizable problem in the financial industry and whether the company has a scalable business model. They looked for evidence of strong execution, defensible competitive advantages and market traction and finally, whether the team has the talent and expertise required to realize the opportunity as a whole. The final deciding question on which judges were asked to vote was “How important is this company to the future of the financial industry?”
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 210 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.
Gust fornece a plataforma global para sourcing e gestão dos investimentos de fase inicial. Gust permite que empresários capazes colaborem com os investidores mais perspicazes ao suportar praticamente todos os aspetos da relação de investimento, do pitch inicial à saída bem sucedida. Gust é apoiado pelas maiores associações de investimentos providenciais e de capitais de risco do mundo, e alimenta mais de 750 organizações em 65 países. Mais de 125,000 startups já utilizaram a plataforma para para se ligarem e colaborarem com mais de 35,000 investidores individuais acreditados. A empresa foi fundada em 2004 com o nome Angelsoft, sendo uma empresa privada. Gust está sediada na cidade de Nova Iorque, com um centro de desenvolvimento em Vancouver, no Estado de British Columbia, e um escritório europeu em Paris, França.
Ilana Grossman
VP, Marketing
(212) 228-9311
158 West 29th Street, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001 USA
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