The result of a partnership between Label Ventures and Hunch, the foresight and strategy consultancy based in London, the Payments Innovation Accelerator programme aims to enable entrepreneurs and leaders of established businesses alike to harness new business models, technologies, and design patterns to innovate at scale.

In January 2022, the Payments Innovation Accelerator will be working with its first leaders and equipping them with the tools to turn plans into innovative ventures, products and services that can be delivered into the market at pace.

Nick Sherrard, partner at Label Ventures, said: “This programme builds on our experience in developing accelerator programmes around the world focussed on new product development. Payments will be a key area of innovation in 2022 and as a result, alongside our wider work in financial services, this new Accelerator will be a key step forward for us and the organisations we work with.”

The Payments Innovation Accelerator programmes will be open to both start-ups and established players. Elements of the programme will be bespoke to each participating company but every team entering the accelerator will start with an intensive 6-week process that examines customer and commercial insight, blueprints the design for new solutions, then develops a roadmap to bring a new offering to market in a way that will meaningfully solve a problem for customers and drive growth for the business.

Philip Clarke, founder of Hunch, added: “As we approach 2022, we can all see that there are a host of new opportunities for innovation around new business models, as well as harnessing new payment technologies in e-commerce and retail, loyalty, and the wider marketing arena, but that is only half the story.

“At the same time as we see the opportunities in the market, we can also see that there is a real crisis of leadership in many of the organisations that you might expect to drive change. Lots of organisations are making resolutions to become innovators, but few are making good on them. We need to celebrate and support those leaders who are willing to be the pioneers wherever we find them.”