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F10 Just Gained Its First Partner from Outside the Traditional Finance Industry, Tamedia

Tamedia, one of the biggest Swiss media groups, has just joined up with fintech accelerator F10.

The media house will be contributing their broad experience with Internet services, product development, marketing and B2C know-how to F10’s accelerates, typically consisting of startups operating in fintech, insurtech and regtech.

F10 is a nonprofit incubator and accelerator that helps its startups grow, and in particular, navigate the dicey regulatory minefields of their ecosystems. The accelerator was set up by the Swiss Stock Exchange, though they also forge partnerships with a variety of companies to support their accelerated startups.

Tamedia has been listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange since 2000.

Thomas Landis, Head of F10 said:

Thomas Landis

“We are delighted to welcome Tamedia as a new member. The media group in Switzerland is the first member from outside the traditional financial industry. Both industries are undergoing major changes as a result of digitalisation.”

“Tamedia closes the connection between fintech and start-ups and its expertise has a lasting effect on the transformation of the financial industry. We are excited about working with Tamedia.”

While Tamedia is ostensibly a media company, their entry into F10 is just a the latest move into their bullish fintech streak. In fact, the company said as much last September as it invested into Lykke, a global blockchain-based marketplace for digital asset management.

Since then, Tamedia has also invested into Monito, a comparison platform for money transfers, and most recently Neon, a mobile-focused neo-bank.

Samuel Hügli, Head of Technology and Ventures of Tamedia said:

Samuel Hügli

“Our engagement with the F10 incubator and accelerator provides us with new ideas and insight into exciting technologies, future trends and disruptive business models in the area of fintech.”

“In addition, we also benefit from a specific international startup screening, because we intend to further expand our existing fintech portfolio.”

Tamedia’s group of publications include free daily newspapers under the 20 Minuten brand, and Sunday prints under the SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche brands. Daily print newspapers, its listed publications fall under the Der Landbote, BZ Berner Zeitung, Der Bund, 24 heures, Le Matin, Tagesanzeiger and Tribune de Genève brand. The company also publishes magazines under the Schweizer Familie, Annabelle, and Das Magazin brands.

F10 is currently in accepting applications for Batch 5 of its P2 Accelerator program, closing on June 2 2019. The P2 Accelerator looks for startups with at least a prototype of a product. Application criteria and submission can be found here.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons