Page 38 - RBI FIntech Atlas 2018

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Spotlight Slovakia
Skyline of Bratislava, Slovakia
Innovation in Slovakia is not exclusively focussed on the ntech sector. This is due to both the highly regulated environment and the innovativeness of local banks in other areas. An early signi cant move by these banks towards encouraging innovation was the establishment of co-working centres designed to enhance the creative environment. The most advanced of these is Tatra banka’s Elevator Lab, which has become a special vehicle that
is used by the bank for rapid prototyping and bringing together innovative out-of-the-box ideas and the traditional banking world as well as for providing a wide range of support to creative ideas from outside.
The Slovakian Ministry of Finance has also established
a special organisational unit, the Centre for Financial Innovation, whose objective is to provide a platform for the regular exchange of information and experience between relevant public sector stakeholders, market participants and other organisations. The ministry is also analysing the detailed functioning of the new digital tax in order
to ensure that digital business activities are taxed in the country in which they are used.
The Ministry of the Interior has created an API designed to facilitate the automation of know-your-customer processes. Tatra banka’s digital account opening process makes use of this API as a result of which new clients of the bank are able to open a current account within minutes.
The technology company Minit is the champion in terms of attracting equity funding. Slovakia has a range of local and foreign VCs including the National Holding Fund, Earlybird Venture and Neulogy, whose focus is early- stage nancing, as well as VCs who specialise in growth nancing such as Limerock Fund.
Slovak-based startup Finax, which develops smart investing solutions, gained a €1.5M investment from venture capital fund Growws in March 2019. It will use the new funding to expand to other CEE markets this year and improve its technology. Finax offers a robo advisor for passive investing via ETF index funds.