Innovation, man. You either have it, or you don’t. And, in the case of Barclays, you stand to gain all sorts of long-tail revenue if you help fuel the aforesaid fire. Its Rise hub is just the start, and now the company is branching out to partner with existing technology hubs and incubation labs across the world – South Africa included. Rather than crafting hubs of its own, Barclays is announcing a Tech Hub Network, or rather, its Accelerator programme that’ll help launch start-ups and the industry as a whole. Access to the Rise hub is quite easy, start-ups need only visit the site and sign up to join. Once they have been accepted, they will be given access to the physical site.

Barclays is committing to “providing each hub with financial support alongside access to cutting edge technology, platforms and mentors, and ensuring that entrepreneurs at these hubs have access to an even larger network of startups.” And, of course, being that much closer to financial freedom can’t hurt.