EvoNexus Collaborating with Franklin Templeton and Royal Bank of Canada to Pursue Emerging Financial Technology Startups

EvoNexus, Southern California's (SoCal) leading startup incubator with locations in San Diego and Irvine, today announced it has opened an application round in search of early stage companies with emerging financial technologies to admit to its new purpose built FinTech incubator. EvoNexus, with principal founding corporate sponsors Franklin Templeton (a global investment firm based in Silicon Valley with more than $712 billion USD in assets) and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) (Canada's largest bank based on market capitalization and one of the largest financial institutions in North America with $1.3 trillion USD assets under management), launched SoCal's first FinTech incubator earlier this month.

FinTech refers to a group of financial technologies that could both empower or disrupt a number of industries. Technologies that impact these sectors include financial transaction services software, cloud, IoT, edge computing and 5G. More than $39 billion USD was invested globally in FinTech in 2018 according to a report from CB Insights.

"FinTech is attracting investment from institutional investor funds, corporate venture funds and angel investors, and this year is promising to be one of the biggest years for the space," said EvoNexus CEO and Co-Founder Rory Moore. "EvoNexus' position and timing is perfect for launching a FinTech incubator, taking advantage of a new wave of startups in the SoCal region and imbedded talent. Our long standing partnership with Qualcomm puts us at ground zero with one of the most important companies enabling the next generation 5G network that will accelerate the ubiquitous delivery of these technologies and services."

EvoNexus, Franklin Templeton and RBC are focused on finding and admitting FinTech startups in the following core technology areas: artificial intelligence/machine learning, bank/wealth/payment technology, capital markets technology, cybersecurity, blockchain, mobile payments, P2P lending, digital cash, InsurTech, RegTech, data science, predictive behavior analytics and key telecommunication enablers such as 5G, IoT and edge computing that will have an impact on digitization of financial transactions and banking.

Moore continued, "A large part of our success begins with finding high quality entrepreneurs with disruptive solutions timed with market need. The talent pool of recent graduates of world class "B" schools and STEM programs from the nation's leading universities is ripe in our community. Southern California has a history of companies that innovate in FinTech going back 20 plus years ago ? HNC, the pioneer of credit card and insurance fraud detection software, FICO, that is the gold standard in credit scoring services, and PIMCO, the world's largest bond trading company."

"Our relationship with EvoNexus will enable us to gain firsthand access to new technologies that can add value and differentiation for our core businesses," said Joe Boerio, Chief Technology Officer for Franklin Templeton. "FinTech is a key driver and accelerator in our efforts to develop new ways to use data and services to improve business outcomes and drive investment performance for our customers."

"Our collaboration with EvoNexus aligns with our commitment to harness the potential of emerging technology to drive value for our clients," said Eddy Ortiz, Vice President of Solution Acceleration and Innovation at RBC. "We are very excited to meet with and learn from the startups that become part of the FinTech incubator."

Startups that apply will be considered for admission into the EvoNexus FinTech incubator and may be considered for collaboration opportunities with RBC and Franklin Templeton including early business unit exposure, technology steering, and potential Beta customer trials and early stage funding.

For more information, and to apply now, visit EvoNexus at https://evonexus.org/apply-fintech/. The application deadline is May 17, 2019, at 8:00PM PT.

The new EvoNexus FinTech Incubator has a dedicated 6,000 square foot Class A office space located a few floors above its Technology and Life Sciences Incubator office in San Diego. Startups from Los Angeles and Orange County that are admitted will also have the Irvine office available for their development. All office space is provided through a long-term strategic partnership with California's leading real estate developer the Irvine Company.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton's goal is to deliver better outcomes by providing global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the Company has expertise across all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. The Company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With employees in over 30 countries, the California-based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and over US$712 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2019. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 84,000+ employees who bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization with more than $1 USD trillion assets under management, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 16 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 33 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-sustainability.

About EvoNexus

EvoNexus is Southern California's leading startup incubator with locations in San Diego and Irvine. We enable motivated entrepreneurs to turn their transformative technologies into fundable, commercially-viable companies. Since 2010, $1.6B in funding and acquisition outcomes have been achieved by EvoNexus startups. A total of 26 EvoNexus startups have been acquired since 2013. EvoNexus is supported by corporate investors, including some of the largest multinational corporations in the world. Its companies enjoy incubation of up to two years in Class A offices and dry lab spaces. For more information, please visit evonexus.org.