BMI to Set Up Innovation Center

With the support of the Information and Communications Technology Committee affiliated with the vice presidency for science and technoogy, Iran’s biggest bank has clinched a deal with one of the nation’s top universities to establish a startup accelerator center.

Bank Melli Iran’s seed accelerator, which will be based on an agreement reached with Sharif University of Technology, is aimed at attracting young talent with the aim of supporting innovation and offering better banking and fintech services among other things.

The agreement was signed in a meeting attended by Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari and BMI CEO Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh and Sharif University’s representative, Dolat.ir reported.

The three parties also reached another agreement to “employ technologies of storing and processing data with high performance” that will allow BMI to enjoy better data processing power.

The vice presidential office is tasked with providing technical, bureaucratic and information support to “back the commercialization and marketing of activities undertaken by the startups covered by the center”.

Bank Melli Iran will provide further technical support, apart from coming up with the financial resources. After evaluating firms and their products, the lender will employ them in the center and prepare the grounds for their success.

Sharif University will provide the infrastructure and regularly draft performance reports, in addition to holding entrepreneurial events and conferences to support and develop young minds and their innovations in financial technology.