Fintech
Financial Technology, Artificial Intelligence Presented at Western New England University with Help from MassMutual, State
SPRINGFIELD — Can Artificial intelligence — artificial intelligence — and emerging FinTech — financial technology — help you keep track of that pocket full of crumpled receipts?
Want to get the most out of those confusing and variable credit card cash back programs?
Bringing together students, bloggers, and publishers to produce content?
And help consumers protect their data?
“Once we have receipts in the app, it can tell you how much you’re spending and where. It can help with budgeting. It can help track expenses for a business,” said Manshika Chakravarthy Nala.
Nala, along with Srivastava Reddy Banda, a graduate student in computer science at Western New England University, is developing EZ Receipts along with three other teams that will be participating in the FinTech + AI 413 Summer Incubator Fellowship at Western New England University this summer. The students are both undergraduate and graduate engineers and computer scientists from Western New England, Springfield College, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
On Wednesday, Springfield-based insurance giant MassMutual announced a $75,000 donation to FinTech + AI Startup Launch Series 413.
Western New England University students Manshika Chakvavarthy Nalla (left) and Srivastava Reddy Banda Reddy Banda show the app they created to Brett Gearing, a WNEU alumnus and partner at The Alchemy Fund, and Michael Poggi, a WNEU alumnus and president of M. Scott Investments, Inc. This was part of a ceremony where the university accepted a $75,000 check from MassMutual for the FinTech Incubator Program. (Don Treeger / The Republican) 7/10/2024
The administration of Governor Maura T. Healey and MassTech Collaboration A year ago, Western New England University was awarded a $1.37 million grant from the Tech and Innovation Ecosystem.
This inaugural class has 11 participants.
After submitting their first proposals in the spring, they are now working on a six-week summer fellowship, during which they will develop a prototype that they will present to investors in the fall.
“In the not-too-distant future, we’ll all be downloading apps from the Apple Store from some of these students,” said Charles Mutigwe, associate professor of business analytics and information management at Western New England University’s College of Business.
Patrick Larkindeputy director of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, said there’s always hope for a “unicorn” or app or computer application that takes off in the marketplace. But the FinTech + AI 413 Startup Launch Series will be successful if it creates a workforce here of people trained in these technologies.
Robert E. Johnson, president of Western New England University, said one of the university’s goals is to prepare students for jobs that don’t yet exist.
“So they can answer questions that are still being formulated,” Johnson said.
Additionally, said Sears Merritt, head of technology and enterprise experience at MassMutual, the Launch Series also hopes to make AI and fintech accessible to small, local businesses that may not have the funds or means to engage in AI on their own.
“This is about building a bridge between Boston, Cambridge and this region with all the resources we have,” he said.