{"id":460051,"date":"2026-10-08T11:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/460051\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:36:15","slug":"smu-cox-fintech-accelerator-opens-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/460051\/","title":{"rendered":"SMU Cox FinTech Accelerator Opens Applications"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Taylor is executive director of the SMU Cox William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership. [Photo: SMU]<\/p>\n

Riding the momentum of the Y\u2019all Street<\/a> financial hub, Southern Methodist University\u2019s Cox School of Business and accelerator network MassChallenge launched the SMU Cox FinTech Accelerator and SMU Cox FinTech Coalition.<\/p>\n

The SMU-led and MassChallenge-operated accelerator will anchor the coalition. The accelerator will connect fintech startups with companies, investors, students, faculty and others in the financial services realm, the partners said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth of Y\u2019all Street in North Texas creates the perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups to innovate at the intersection of technology and financial services,\u201d Josh Taylor, executive director of the SMU Cox William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The accelerator joins a North Texas fintech startup scene that already includes VelaFi,<\/a> which offers a banking alternative to moving money in Latin America, and Tapcheck<\/a>, which enables workers to withdraw a portion of their wages before payday. Both are based in Plano.<\/p>\n

Among other North Texas fintech startups are Nada<\/a>, which offers a home-equity-backed debit card, and Yendo<\/a>, which provides vehicle-secured credit cards. Both are based in Dallas.<\/p>\n

How the accelerator works<\/p>\n

The fintech coalition said the annual accelerator will select up to 15 fintech startups from an expected pool of more than 300 international applicants. The accelerator started accepting applications Oct.<\/a> 6 for its first cohort.<\/p>\n

Boston-based MassChallenge, which will run the accelerator, recently established its second U.S. headquarters in Dallas<\/a>, thanks to financial support from Lyda Hill Philanthropies. MassChallenge\u2019s Dallas office, located at Pegasus Park, focuses on health care, life sciences, cybersecurity and AI.<\/p>\n

The coalition\u2019s work extends beyond the accelerator, though. Offerings will include the SMU Cox FinTech Summit, year-round executive forums and networking opportunities, the coalition said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe SMU Cox FinTech Coalition gives us an opportunity to bring the innovators, financial institutions, investors and talent shaping the future of financial services together here in Dallas, with national reach and impact,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

\tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n

\t\"Ariel<\/a><\/p>\n

The five-year MacArthur Fellowship recognizes Ron\u2019s research on how Northern agriculture shaped economic growth and federal power in 19th-century America.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the money to SMU researcher Saeed Salehi for development of what is thought to be the world\u2019s first synthetic mine inside an advanced drilling and sensing test facility.<\/p>\n

\t\"Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

Cost savings, a new business court and friendlier laws in Texas are driving a shift away from Delaware \u2014 and North Texas stands to benefit.<\/p>\n

\t\"Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

Four years after arriving at Pegasus Park, the Boston-based accelerator is adding health and security accelerators and founder clinics, backed by a renewed two-year grant from Lyda Hill Philanthropies.<\/p>\n

\t\"collage<\/a><\/p>\n

The program equips social entrepreneurs with tools to improve education, income and health across North Texas. Since its founding in 2013, the Social Innovation Accelerator has helped 113 local innovators through mentoring, coaching and seed funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Taylor is executive director of the SMU Cox William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership. [Photo: SMU]…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[157360,102,104,103,17786,157361,23270,23271,157362,23273,15750,157363,157364,31494,157365,52962,157366,7735,118990],"class_list":["post-460051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-cait-brumme-if-added","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-fintech","tag-josh-taylor","tag-lyda-hill-philanthropies","tag-masschallenge","tag-nada","tag-pegasus-park","tag-smu","tag-smu-cox-fintech-accelerator","tag-smu-cox-fintech-coalition","tag-smu-cox-school-of-business","tag-tapcheck","tag-velafi","tag-william-s-spears-institute-for-entrepreneurial-leadership","tag-yall-street","tag-yendo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}