IBM to join fintech hub at Toronto’s MaRS discovery district

Tech giant IBM will be moving into fintech hub at Toronto’s MaRS discovery district in coming weeks in order to focus on cognitive technologies.

According to the official release, IBM will become the first technology tenant in a space currently occupied by financial services companies. IBM will move into the hub, joining the likes of CIBC, Manulife and payment processor Moneris.

“I think bringing in some large technology powerhouses that dive not only into fintech but into other things like artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital health and so on, really dovetails well with the MaRS mandate,” Adam Nanjee, head of fintech cluster at MaRS said.

Nanjee also mentioned that the so called C suite is meant to act as a bridge between large corporations and tech-savvy startups. He also added that looking for innovative new technologies to incorporate into their business mix can be a laborious task for corporations.

The fintech hub provides opportunities to partner with startups working on cutting-edge, potentially disruptive technologies. These partnerships have the potential to lead to investments and acquisition and offer a huge benefit for the startups.

“We see this as a real opportunity for us to accelerate and expand our own research, our own assets,” Allen Lalonde, senior executive at IBM Canada Research and Development Centre said.