{"383441":{"#nid":"383441","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech launches financial technology accelerator at ATDC","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWorldpay will expand its commitment to accelerating payments technology innovation with a $1 million gift and mentorship commitment to Georgia Tech\u2019s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), company and university officials announced Tuesday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorldpay will fully fund a new Financial Technology accelerator at ATDC for the next three years, which will include hiring a FinTech expert to serve as an entrepreneur-in-residence to mentor startups. Worldpay executives are also mentoring entrepreneurs at the center, providing both payments expertise and Worldpay\u2019s global resources to support companies within the new program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs the leaders in modern money, Worldpay is creating new payments experiences for software and applications that business owners use to run their businesses smarter across all channels,\u201d said Worldpay US President and CEO Tony Catalfano. \u201cTo sustain our competitive advantage, we must continue to innovate and attract top talent, both key drivers behind this groundbreaking partnership.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe ATDC has empowered scores of entrepreneurs to grow their ideas into successful companies,\u201d added Catalfano, who also serves as the board chairman of the American Transaction Processors Coalition. \u201cOur commitment is about investing in the smartest, most-creative innovators so the next generation of financial technology will be built right here in Georgia.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe are always focused on bringing businesses to our state, but we also want to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to build their businesses right here in Georgia,\u201d said Georgia Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle. \u201cThis is a groundbreaking public-private partnership that will create jobs and help secure Georgia\u2019s place as the country\u2019s leader in financial technology for another generation. I congratulate Georgia Tech and Worldpay on this collaboration and look forward to seeing the results.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe announced partnership underscores Georgia Tech\u2019s statewide economic development mission.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis gift from Worldpay will enhance the innovation ecosystem that is rapidly developing in Tech Square,\u201d said Georgia Tech President G.P. \u201cBud\u201d Peterson. \u201cWe are fulfilling our mission to create new products that will foster new companies and job opportunities for all of Georgia.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs a statewide startup incubator, ATDC is always looking at the technologies that are of interest to entrepreneurs in Georgia, said ATDC Director Stephen Fleming.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFinancial technology is important for us and the state because it\u2019s a sector where Georgia is a leader,\u201d added Fleming. \u201cATDC will use Worldpay\u2019s gift and executive mentorship to ensure that Georgia stays at the cutting edge of FinTech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore than 70 percent of all U.S. payments are processed in Georgia\u2019s \u201cTransaction Alley,\u201d according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition. More than 60 percent of the industry\u2019s companies are based in metro Atlanta, supporting more than 40,000 jobs in the state.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETuesday\u2019s announcement comes on the heels of Worldpay\u2019s announced relocation of its U.S. headquarters to Midtown Atlanta this year. The company will invest more than $10 million to move more than 600 employees to the city and add an additional 600 workers over the next four years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout Worldpay\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorldpay is a leading global payments technology and services company, which allows merchants to accept payments anywhere in the world, across any channel.\u0026nbsp;Headquartered in London and operating in over 30 countries, the company offers services across the entire payments value chain, including transaction capturing, merchant acquiring and transaction processing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2014, the business processed a total of 10.7 billion transactions with a value of more than half a trillion dollars, making it one of the largest payments companies in the world.\u0026nbsp;The company employs over 4,700 people in markets throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorldpay US is headquartered in Georgia, and recently announced it will move its headquarters to Midtown Atlanta this year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWorldpay is owned by private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital alongside management and employees.\u0026nbsp;For additional information, visit Worldpay.com.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the world\u2019s premier research universities. Georgia Tech is a national and international leader in scientific and technological research and education and is the nation\u2019s leading producer of engineers as well as a leading producer of female and minority engineering Ph.D. graduates. Ranked among the top public universities by U.S. News \u0026amp; World Report, the Institute enrolls more than 23,000 students within its six colleges. For additional information, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\u0022 title=\u0022www.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) is one of the oldest and largest university-based startup incubators in the country. ATDC, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, has graduated about 150 companies from its program. ATDC is a unit of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Tech\u2019s chief economic development arm. For additional information, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.atdc.org\u0022 title=\u0022www.atdc.org\u0022\u003Ewww.atdc.org\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EATDC will hire a FinTech expert to serve as an Entrepreneur in Residence to mentor and guide startups. The new program will support economic development in communities across Georgia, including FinTech leaders in Columbus.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Worldpay\u0027s $1 million gift will fund the program for three years.This is the first major private sector gift for ATDC."}],"uid":"27918","created_gmt":"2015-03-02 16:26:43","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:51","author":"Laura Diamond","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-03-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"367821":{"id":"367821","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech signage","body":null,"created":"1449245827","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:17:07","changed":"1475895105","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:45","alt":"Georgia Tech signage","file":{"fid":"74870","name":"14c1002-p1-006.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c1002-p1-006.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/14c1002-p1-006.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4902919,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/14c1002-p1-006.jpg?itok=cWZEl0Bz"}},"346181":{"id":"346181","type":"image","title":"Centergy Building, ATDC Headquarters","body":null,"created":"1449245670","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:30","changed":"1475895068","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:08","alt":"Centergy Building, ATDC Headquarters","file":{"fid":"201940","name":"atdc-centergy-building2_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atdc-centergy-building2_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/atdc-centergy-building2_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1343870,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/atdc-centergy-building2_0_0.jpg?itok=TcQkkTrF"}}},"media_ids":["367821","346181"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/atdc.org\/","title":"Advanced Technology Development Center"},{"url":"http:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/","title":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9193","name":"accelerator"},{"id":"815","name":"economic development"},{"id":"3671","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"},{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:Laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ELaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E@LauraRDiamond\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["laura.diamond@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}