We innovate together

Techstars

Techstars is the most active pre-seed investor and renowned accelerator in the world, with more than 4,000 portfolio companies in over 60 countries. Together, we run the ABN AMRO + Techstars Future of Finance programme, a leading startup accelerator that began in 2020. During the annual three-month programme, we surround companies with the best mentors and an unparalleled network of partners, investors and alumni. We offer funding and fundraising opportunities, workshops, carefully curated resources, and a whole string of moments for startup founders to learn from their peers. It is a tried-and-tested model that has contributed to the development of thousands of successful companies worldwide. Read more about the ABN AMRO + Techstars programme and companies that have gone before here.

Motive Partners

Motive Partners is a market-leading, phase-agnostic fintech investor with a portfolio worth over 6.5 billion dollars (AuM). ABN AMRO has made significant investments in funds managed by Motive Partners, and together we are actively exploring new fintech frontiers and collaborating with portfolio companies that contribute to our innovation agenda and strategic ambitions. Additionally, Motive Ventures – the venture capital arm of Motive Partners – now manages the ABN AMRO Ventures fund (AAV). Our partnership with a leading company like Motive Partners underscores our collaborative approach and places ABN AMRO at the forefront of fintech innovation. Read more about Motive Partners here.

‘More than a bank’ for entrepreneurs: doorpakken.abnamro.nl

Entrepreneurs face major challenges in more areas than just finance. We want to help them with that. Such as the transition to sustainability, keeping their business digitally secure, safe digital communication and optimal business management. To find out which innovative services or solutions we can help them with, business clients and other companies can answer seven questions on our Doorpakken (Pressing Ahead in Dutch) platform. Interested? Click here and get recommendations that match your business in roughly three minutes.

Successful Challengers from ABN AMRO

Tikkie, New10 and Franx: initiatives of ABN AMRO that are accelerating under their own names. The common denominator of these ‘Challengers’ is that they offer fully automated and digital-only services. They benefit from the best of both worlds: the mindset of a scale-up, while being able to build on the experience and expertise of ABN AMRO. As wholly owned subsidiaries of ABN AMRO, they make use of our extensive network of professionals. This is how they put our knowledge within the bank into practice.

DARE to Innovate: ABN AMRO's method

At ABN AMRO, we use our own innovation methodology: DARE. This methodology combines aspects of Lean Startup, Design Thinking and Agile with our own best practices in banking innovation. DARE uses a stage-gated funnel that provides guidance to innovation teams and stakeholders at the bank in their search for new, viable business models. DARE also contains practical tools in order to focus on the aspects that are important at each phase of the innovation process.

The different phases of DARE

DARE consists of different phases. It starts with the Explore phase. The aim of this phase is to identify potential innovation areas and business models. In the 'Prove Problem' phase, we conduct in-depth research into the user's underlying problem and validate whether our bank can offer a solution to that problem. In the 'Prove Solution' phase, we seek and test a solution to the problem. Afterwards, in the 'Prove they Pay' phase, we prove that there are enough potential paying clients for the proposition. Lastly, in the 'Prove it Scales' phase, we demonstrate that the proposition is scalable.

Why we use DARE

Innovation is an unpredictable process: it is uncertain and non-linear. We also know that in uncertain situations, people tend to fall back on existing processes and 'safe' behaviour. An unambiguous innovation method such as DARE gives innovators the confidence that 'how' they are innovating is correct even if the 'what' is still uncertain. A good example of DARE put into practise is ABN AMRO's Intrapreneur programme, in which colleagues from across the bank can work for 18 months to develop innovative products and services.

Innovating together

Collaboration is the key to successful innovation, as it means we can constantly learn from each other. That is why we actively look for partnerships. If your organisation innovates within one of our three themes (innovative sustainability, digital assets and platformification) and you could use our strength as a bank, please contact us. We would be interested in exploring how we can join forces.