Accenture, a global business and IT consulting services company has invested in fintech start-up Emtech, which offers SaaS to central banks and the fintech industry. For instance, Accenture aims to incorporate Emtech products into its operational central banking systems. 

Accenture was established by Carmelle Cadet in 2019, a former executive of IBM Blockchain. It boasts of having as members seven major central banks, which include Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and the Bahamas. It also developed a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for proof of concept for the central bank of the Republic of Haiti. 

Emtech Services for central banks, digital banks, and fintech

Besides infrastructure for CBDC, Emtech offers a regulatory sandbox to assist financial service providers with CBDC. Currently, it is also developing a compliance tool for financial services. Emtech claims to serve over 200 firms in the fintech segment, affirming its position as a leading market player.

Accompanying the investment, the parties did not reveal the terms of cooperation. Emtech will also participate in the Accenture Venture Project Spotlight accelerator program. Emtech received $4M in seed funding in August 2023, following $6M in pre-seed funding in 2022. CBDC services by Emtech employ a single ledger platform. In 2021, it collaborated with Hedera Hashgraph to provide its Hedera Token Service and the Hedera Consensus Services. In July 2023, it unveiled its CBDC Innovation Kit simulator with out-of-the-box APIs.

Coming together in familiar territory

Accenture is already familiar with CBDC, as it is not a new concept for the company. Some of its clients include the Bank of Canada, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the European Central Bank, and the Swedish Riksbank.