FinTech Innovation Lab

The Lab was co-founded by Maria Gotsch and Robert Gach. Gotsch serves as President and CEO of the Partnership Fund for New York City, which jointly operates the program with Accenture. Program management is split across three regional leads in New York, London, and Asia-Pacific.

No. The Lab does not write checks or take equity. It accelerates companies by connecting them directly with senior decision-makers at partner financial institutions for mentorship, product feedback, and enterprise pilot opportunities. The capital alumni raise comes from external investors, not from the Lab itself.

The Partnership Fund for New York City is the Lab's co-founder and anchor operator for the New York program. It is a $180 million evergreen investment fund affiliated with the Partnership for New York City, a business leadership organization. Maria Gotsch, who leads the Fund, also oversees the Lab platform globally.

Senior executives from the Lab's network of over 140 partner financial institutions actively participate in selecting each cohort. Companies are accepted only if there is demonstrated interest from potential enterprise clients, which means a cohort member's product already has a champion inside at least one bank or insurer before the program formally begins.

The program targets early- to growth-stage technology companies, historically ranging from Seed to Series B. It also considers non-fintech, growth-stage companies that are developing products for financial services and insurance clients. The key filter is enterprise relevance, not the funding round label.