British fund management firm Octopus Investments has launched Octopus Labs, a new incubator and accelerator programme to nurture ‘market-ready’ startups.
The 12-week accelerator programme will provide mentoring, central London office space, and access to Octopus Investments’ distribution channels of financial advisers and investors.
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Octopus Labs head Richard Wazacz said: “Octopus Labs takes the existing strengths of our business – our established customer base, distribution channels, skills and expertise – and adds a start-up dimension. The result is a powerful new force that will quickly develop new products and services to form part of the Octopus stable.
“Our accelerator is a great example of the ambitions we have as a business unit. We want to take existing innovations and ready them for our mainstream audience of advisers and retail investors.”
The application process for the programme, which will start in October 2016, is now open. The deadline is 16 September 2016.
Octopus Investments may invest or ‘spin-in’ startups that excel in the programme.
