Incoming West Hartford fintech Ideanomics says it has generated significant interest from private businesses, colleges and other fintechs eyeing a presence at its former UConn campus.
The New York company on Tuesday said it has received “regular” partner inquiries since announcing it would purchase UConn’s vacant West Hartford campus on Trout Brook Drive in July. The campus sale closed in October for $5.2 million.
Ideanomics, formerly Seven Stars Cloud, is building a tech hub for blockchain technology and artificial intelligence (AI) at the 53-acre site in a $283 million development known as Fintech Village, which is expected to create 330 new jobs.
The global fintech also said it has started discussions to bring up to 10 fintech companies to the area from Asia, Israel and Europe. Those companies would establish their innovation operations under a single, collaborative campus, officials said.
Business and educational partners are interested in collaborations, IP development, joint ventures and fintech companies are seeking participation in the real estate development of the site and establishing research labs at the West Hartford campus, the company said.
Ideanomics President and COO Alfred P. “Alf” Poor, also divisional president of Fintech Village, said the the company’s outreach from the private and education sectors has “exceeded our expectations,” adding that the development will serve as a “destination for fintech innovation and education” to support the financial services industry.
Partnerships, officials said, will focus on education and application development for banking, accounting, insurance and health care, among other industries, to benefit from AI and big data and blockchain technologies.
The partnerships would allow Ideanomics to become sales and licensing agents for those entities that are not currently marketing their technology and services in North America, the company said.
