(Charlotte, NC) Dec 2, 2021 – After an intense month-long recruitment effort, applications for the Meta Lab have officially closed. 99 of the most innovative startups from around the world have applied for this Charlotte-based challenge. These small businesses span 21 states in the US and hail from 13 countries globally, including Belarus, Columbia, Hong Kong, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Rwanda. The MassChallenge and Carolina Fintech Hub teams are now tasked with the formidable challenge of whittling through all the impressive submissions to identify the most compelling fintech and healthtech solutions.
These expert judges come from a wide array of backgrounds—leaders in fintech, healthtech, education, government, and many others—and they are now nearing the conclusion of initially evaluating nearly 100 applications from startups around the world. From there, the Meta Lab Challenge Partners will hold a two-day semi-final event in December before completing the final competition and announcing the winners of this challenge.
Once identified, these startups will have an opportunity to collaborate directly with CFH anchor partners, as well as have opportunities to gain strategic insights and their share of an equity-free ‘innovation prize pool’ made possible by EY, Movement Mortgage, and LendingTree. Later phases of the Meta Lab include further opportunities for business development, pilots, capital investments, and in some cases even acquisition.
Additionally, the limited series production of the Meta Lab continues marching forward, with a content teaser from the launch event being released to the public. This teaser provides a view into the level of production, main characters, and plot that will unfold in the limited series. Production continues in this project of unprecedented access behind the scenes with back story gathering of the startups that have applied, work efforts of the Meta Lab partners, and the conclusion in a ‘Shark Tank-styled’ finale. The content teaser can be accessed here.
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About Carolina Fintech Hub
The Carolina Fintech Hub was formed in late 2017 with the mission of fostering a collaboration between the world’s leading financial services firms and innovative Fintech startups. By providing resources and support for Fintechs of all types, at all points along the innovation pipeline and through focused efforts to attract and retain Fintech talent, Carolina Fintech Hub is fueling the future of Fintech in the Carolinas. Learn more at carolinafintechhub.org.
About MassChallenge
MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with seven locations worldwide, MassChallenge equips bold entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo and to create meaningful change. Since launching in 2009, more than 2,900 MassChallenge alumni have raised $8.6B in funding, generated $3.6B in revenue, and created more than 186,000 total jobs. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.
