A former bank building on Michigan Avenue will become home to a financial technology incubator.
FinTech Consortium, with offices in New York, Singapore and Bahrain, said Monday it plans to open a North American flagship location called Detroit FinTech Bay at 44 W. Michigan in Detroit.
The 20,000-square-foot coworking space is expected to open in early 2019. It will connect start-up entrepreneurs with banks and corporations.
“The new hub will further the development and acceleration of FinTech start-ups, as well as foster interaction between investors, entrepreneurs, government bodies and financial institutions,” Gerben Visser, founder of FinTech Consortium, said in a statement Monday.
Start-ups, investors and financial institutions will have access to services including leadership courses, monthly classes and demo days. There will be dedicated offices and desks, private meeting rooms and common areas.
Renovations will begin later this summer on the 1938 building, a former First Independence Bank.
Detroit FinTech Bay offices will be located in the basement and on the second floor. The old bank vaults will remain, as well as much of the building’s original character, company officials said.
Rick Frisbie, chairman of the company’s North American operations, said Detroit was chosen because of the region’s raw talent for innovation.
“…FinTech solutions are disrupting society much like the auto industry did a century ago,” he said. “Detroit has all the right ingredients to be significant in this growing market, and it’s an ecosystem I’m energized to join and nurture.”
Businesses and financial institutions interested in becoming partners or start-ups interested in becoming residents of the space can submit an application at