Standard Chartered’s and SuperCharger have announced the completion of Hong Kong’s first Fintech accelerator program.

The first home-grown accelerator program in Hong Kong was launched in October 2015 to engage fintech start-ups in a 3 month structured development program to assist in building their image in Asia.

The SuperCharger Fintech Accelerator Programme is a partnership between Standard Chartered, and TusPark Global Network and recently hosted its first Demo Day in Hong Kong for the top eight start-ups selected out of 160 applications.

Standard Chartered’s global chief innovation officer Anju Patwardhan was confident the Accelerator Program would increase engagement level in the fintech sector.

“Standard Chartered is proud to have concluded its first accelerator programme jointly with Supercharger in Hong Kong. We had great cross-industry collaboration from different players in the Hong Kong and China Fintech ecosystem and it provided the start-ups with opportunities to build on their strategies and businesses,” she said.

“It is part of our ongoing commitment to encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship.”

This comes after the recent opening of the Standard Chartered’s eXellerator innovation lab in Singapore. S

Results can already be seen for start-ups supported by SuperCharger throughout the program. Late- stage company MicroCred closed a US$71 million round during the programme, while Eko Financial Services has grown at a rate of 500,000 new customers per month. Chinese start-up WeCash now has grown to over 35 million users through the program.