BME and BBF Fintech consolidate their alliance to promote Bilbao as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship

• The meeting coincides with Spain's rotating presidency of the Council of the EU
• 2,000 euros will be awarded in prizes for the resolution of challenges
• The event is supported by the City Council, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the BBK Foundation, Bilbao Plaza Financiera and the Basque Government

Following the success of the two previous editions, BME together with the University of Mondragon through the BBF Fintech incubator are organizing the III Fintech Hack&Disrupt! Meeting in Bilbao on July 12 and 13, the most important Fintech - Insurtech event in the Basque Country, coinciding with Spain's rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The meeting will bring together companies, students, entrepreneurs and startups with the aim of promoting Bilbao as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship in the financial environment.

The event will take place at the BAT Tower and will combine the resolution of challenges by the Hackathon participants (July 12) with an institutional day (July 13) aimed at the financial and entrepreneurial ecosystem. The III Fintech Hack&Disrupt! Meeting has the collaboration of the City Council of Bilbao, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, BBK Foundation, Bilbao Plaza Financiera and the Basque Government.

The first day will revolve around a challenge posed on the Basque Government's Sustainable Bonds. The Basque Government started its sustainable financing strategy in 2018 and today has 7 sustainable bond issues for €4.4 billion. "In Euskadi we need to reinforce our investment effort that is present in our social and political commitment, our annual budgets and a rational, adjusted and sustainable financial management model in the long term", highlights Arantza Larrauri, head of Financial Policy of the Basque Government.

The program on the 13th will start with the opening speech by Javier Hernani, CEO of BME,  Javier Garcinuño, general manager of Bilbao Ekinza and Ainara Basurko, congresswoman from the Department of Economic Promotion in the Provincial Council of Bizkaia. José Manuel Marqués, Director of Financial Innovation at the Bank of Spain, will continue with a speech on the challenges of digitalization in Spain. This will be followed by a panel discussion with representatives from BME Inntech, Kutxabank and Norbolsa, moderated by the director of Torre BAT.

This will be followed by a debate on innovation, technology and regulation with the participation of Kreab, FinReg360, BME Growth and Veltis Rating. After the participation of Asier Quesada,  Fintech coordination at University of Mondragón, Arantza Larrauri, Director of Financial Policy of the Basque Government, will take the floor. Afterwards, time will be devoted to analyzing the success stories of previous editions.

After the cocktail, the resolutions to the challenges will be presented and the prizes will be awarded. The challenges selected in first and second place will receive a prize of 1,500 and 500 euros, respectively.

"With this meeting, BME strengthens its collaboration with the University of Mondragón to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in the Basque Country, one of the pillars of its sustainability strategy," says Manuel Ardanza, president of the Bilbao Stock Exchange.

Maitane Martín, Fintech coordinator at Mondragon University, highlights "the importance of incubating new businesses around finance and technology, as well as accelerating existing companies, to strengthen the business fabric and offer new opportunities in the region".

More information and registration for the conference at this link.