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By <a style="color: #4bbb87;" href="https://fintechwales.org/">FinTech Wales</a>
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<li aria-level="1">Admiral Financial Services join sponsors of the Foundry
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<li aria-level="1">Applications for the FinTech Wales Foundry Season 2 now open. </li>
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<li aria-level="1">Season 2 will help early to late-stage seed ventures navigate the fundraising and scaling process successfully. </li>
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<li aria-level="1">New season 2 program Director announced as entrepreneur Neil Cocker.</li>
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Cardiff, UK, December 13, 2021 – FinTech Wales today announced applications are being accepted for Season 2 of Wales' only FinTech focused accelerator programme, the FinTech Wales Foundry.
The Foundry, which in Season 1 focused on helping early stage FinTechs develop proof of concept, now turns its attention to overcoming the challenges of successfully validating, fundraising and scaling a new venture in Season 2. 
Experienced founder and mentor Neil Cocker has been announced as the season’s programme director and along with a team of industry leaders, have developed a powerful 12-week calendar of intensive mentoring and high level introductions, all geared to successful fundraising and post-investment growth. 
Neil Cocker Comments - “I’m super excited to help lead Season 2 and support both amazing early stage startups and the partners who are backing this program” 
Joining existing sponsors Principality Building Society and Cardiff Capital Region this Season are Admiral Financial Services Limited (AFSL), the lending arm of Admiral Group, who are delighted to be supporting the programme in 2022. 
 
Tom Lewis, Head of Unsecured Loans at Admiral, commented “The chance to work closely with start-ups, and at the same time ensure we continue to innovate in an increasingly disrupted market, was an opportunity we just couldn’t miss.”
The Foundry’s no equity accelerator encourages applications from startups in Banking, Insurance, Wealth Management, Financial Services, and FinTech, before the closing date of applications on December 24th 2021.
The selected startups will be announced in early January before the programme commences on the 10th of January. The cohort will then begin a programme of online, and weekly in-person mentoring sessions at the Foundry hub in Cardiff, Wales, culminating in an event showcasing their progress at the accelerators end in mid-April.
Building on the success of a 2021 Foundry programme, that saw 8 startups collectively raise over 8 million in investment, FinTech Wales CEO, Sarah Williams Gardener, is excited to invite a fresh cohort of startups into Season 2’s new look programme.
Sarah Williams-Gardener, FinTech Wales CEO, commented - “The FinTech Wales Foundry is an integral part of our mission to establish Wales as a globally recognised FinTech Hub of excellence. We're proud of our Community and ecosystem which form a critical element in the already thriving Welsh FinTech Cluster. Our first cohort raised £9m in investment, created 20 plus jobs and signed corporate deals with our program partners. Our Foundry Season 2 program will be aiming to surpass these milestones by helping a cohort of startups validate their propositions, secure investment and prepare for growth. With the support of our partners in both the private and public sector, and combined with access to academia, we know we have a winning formula. I'd encourage all eligible FinTechs to apply. 
ENDS