Kansas has a rich history of entrepreneurship, and our strong community of Kansas banks has supported and shared that entrepreneurial spirit over the years. This year, the Kansas Bankers Association was invited to participate in a program that connects financial technology entrepreneurs to financial institutions in Kansas looking for innovations to help better serve customers. This program, the NXTSTAGE FinTech Pilot Competition, is facilitated by NXTUS, Inc., a non-profit entrepreneurship support organization based in Wichita, KS.

“We are very excited about the potential for NXTSTAGE to bring cutting-edge financial technology solutions to community banks across Kansas,” said KBA CEO Doug Wareham. “KBA’s partnership with NXTUS reinforces the desire of Kansas banks to provide their customers with the safest, most efficient and user-friendly technology tools available to meet the needs of Kansas consumers.”

The mission of NXTUS is to help entrepreneurs grow companies of significance. The organization works to support startup founders with community resources, capital and customers. NXTUS manages Accelerate Venture Partners, a fast-growing angel-investor syndicate, and the NXTSTAGE programs, which aim to accelerate the pace of innovation and startup growth in the region by helping high-potential entrepreneurs engage with Kansas organizations looking to become early customers for their startups.

The NXTSTAGE FinTech Pilot Competition, first held in 2020, provides Kansas banks early access to a curated group of startups offering tomorrow’s technology tools and digital services. With input from its community bank partners, NXTUS recruits early-stage companies offering technology solutions most relevant to Kansas banks, which seek to make their processes more efficient, reduce fraud, better assess the creditworthiness of potential customers and serve consumers and small businesses more effectively.

“Evaluating fintechs can be a daunting task with countless prospects. NXTUS does a great job of collecting a wide range of applicants and then completing the initial screening to help identify good prospects for the panelists to review. A community bank trying to complete this evaluation on their own would spend hours upon hours trying to identify viable vendors,” said Jeff Martin, EVP/COO/IT Director at First Heritage Bank and a KBA fintech task force member.

The 2023 competition attracted 105 competitors this spring. Innovation and leadership teams from Emprise Bank and INTRUST Bank, along with the KBA’s task force, helped narrow the field down to eight top contenders. These finalists will visit Kansas in October and are vying for customer contracts with Kansas banks for pilot projects and broader implementations of their technology solutions.

“I continue to hear concerns from community banks about how they can become safely and relatively easily involved in the exploding fintech industry. I feel that my participation in the NXTUS program was hugely beneficial as it showed me that there are indeed companies with services I can propose to my community bank, which will keep us relevant with exciting and applicable technology. I feel that, in the end, NXTUS and the fintech partners’ teams did a very good job of choosing a range of finalists with the capacity to be relevant to all-sized Kansas financial institutions,” said Mike Aylward, CIO at Bank of Commerce and a KBA task force member.

While the bankers participating in the vetting process are interested in solutions that may help fill a need at their own banks, there is also a group/team approach that adds unique value to this process.

“The pilot competition is a key ingredient in creating the perpetual loop of innovation and collaboration that Kansas needs to grow in technology company partnership and company development,” said Cooper Clawson, SVP — Innovation & Corporate Management at Bank of the Plains and a KBA fintech task force member. “Innovation is an ecosystem that requires paying customers, tech-adopting company leadership, technical talent and a funding environment. We’re thrilled to partner with NXTUS and the other banks involved in the competition to spur on further innovative growth in Kansas.”

The competition is backed by returning sponsors Emprise Bank and INTRUST Bank, while the Kansas Bankers Association joined as a first-time premier sponsor this year. In addition, the program’s third founding pilot partner, Fidelity Bank, remains a NXTSTAGE funder. Thanks to these supporters, as well as grant funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, NXTUS is advancing its vision to help promising startups grow, enhance Kansas’ innovation culture, and foster inclusive prosperity in the region. “NXTSTAGE’s future-minded backers see Kansas as ready for innovation and a perfect proving ground for tomorrow’s technologies,” said Mary Beth Jarvis, NXTUS President and CEO. “With their help, we’re working to show early-stage companies in the region and beyond that they can grow their businesses here, which will help grow and ‘future-proof’ our state’s economy.”

Thanks to all KBA fintech task force members helping with the 2023 competition: Mike Aylward (Bank of Commerce), Michael Bartkoski (NBKC Bank), Cooper Clawson (Bank of the Plains), Bryan Holt (Union State Bank), Jeff Martin (First Heritage Bank) and Brian Young with the KBA.

Key Dates

• Monday, October 9, 4:00 p.m. – Welcome Reception for fintech finalists to be hosted in Wichita, KS.
• Wednesday, October 11, 3:30 p.m. – Innovation Showcase hosted in person at WSU Tech (4004 N. Webb Rd., Wichita, KS 67226). The Innovation Showcase will also be live-streamed for those unable to attend in person.

For more information about the 2023 NXTSTAGE FinTech Pilot Competition and how your bank can get involved, please email the NXTUS team at hello@nxtus.io.