2019
€3m Fexco-UCC research collaboration launched today
A financial technology research collaboration between technology company Fexco, University College Cork and Science Foundation Ireland, has been launched today.
The FINTECHNEXT project will receive a €3m investment from Science Foundation Ireland and Fexco in equal parts.
Critical knowledge and expertise will also be provided by researchers at the Cork University Business School within UCC.
The collaboration will run for four years from 2019 to 2022.
It will see a team of 12 newly appointed researchers led by UCC, partner with Fexco in the delivery of applied and funded research dedicated to disrupting three key fintech areas - Treasury and foreign exchange, digital taxation and corporate asset administration.
The proposed outputs of the collaboration include commercially viable fintech prototypes and associated intellectual property as well as a dedicated fintech knowledge repository centred at UCC.
The research team will be co-located between Fexco headquarters in Co Kerry where the company already employs over 1,000 of its global 2,300 strong workforce, and UCC.
"Investment in research is key to developing and delivering the next generation of products, services and innovations that will disrupt the fintech sector, an industry that has been critical to the continued growth and development of the South West of Ireland and of Fexco," commented Denis McCarthy, CEO of Fexco.
UCC President, Professor Patrick O'Shea, said that the partnership with Fexco contributes towards developing a world leading fintech sector in this region and nationally.
"This is a great example of the way the public and private sectors can invest together in innovative research with potentially valuable commercial applications," Professor O'Shea added.
Dr Ciarán Seoighe, Deputy Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, said that fintech is an important and rapidly growing industry sector.
He said it was particularly gratifying to see FINTECHNEXT based in rural Ireland.
"Transforming how we deliver financial services like digital taxation, treasury and asset administration requires innovation from our excellent academics and collaboration with expert industry partners, like Fexco," he added.