Slaughter and May fintech co-heads Rob Sumroy and Ben Kingsley

Slaughter and May has selected six startups for the third round of its 'Fast Forward' tech initiative, which supports promising new businesses by providing free legal advice and access to to other magic circle-standard services.

As with previous rounds, the firm will provide £30,000 worth of free legal and business services to the successful applicants.

Unlike in previous rounds, the latest intake was open to non-fintech startups, meaning that new partners will be able to be involved in the programme – a move Kingsley described as "a nice knock-on effect". The new focus has meant a change in name for the programme, which was previously known as Fintech Fast Forward.

Lawyers who will work with the startups include private equity head Jeff Twentyman, tax disputes co-head Dominic Robertson, real estate partner John Nevin, corporate partners Filippo de Falco and Christian Boney, and intellectual property partner Duncan Blaikie.

Slaughters fintech co-head Ben Kingsley told Legal Week: "We were looking for companies trying to do something a bit ambitious that they may need some fairly bespoke legal support to achieve; those who are pushing the envelope and are likely to run into some legal complexity that needs to be overcome."

Kingsley said the firm looked for a "diversity of companies" for the programme, with a long list of 30 narrowed down to the final six after applications opened in October last year.

The firm has continued to work with a number of companies from previous intakes, including TrueLayer, By Miles and WorldRemit. Kingsley added: "Part of the aim of the programme is to build a relationship with these companies and hopefully find a way to continue working together."

The six successful applicants were chosen by a consultative panel that includes Kingsley, Sumroy, Invoke Capital founder and CEO Mike Lynch, Santander UK chief customer and innovation officer Sigga Sigurdardotti,r and LocalGlobe partner Suzanne Ashman.

The chosen six:

• Bio-Bean, a greentech company that recycles used coffee grounds on an industrial scale for the manufacture of biofuels and biochemicals. "Bio-bean immediately caught my eye because they're obviously a very green business, and are nothing like the other companies we've had in the programme before. It's a really interesting business model for us and completely different to anything we've focused on before," said Kingsley.
• Bundle, an email collaboration tool with a "very compelling and very ambitious founder", according to Kingsley. "I really like Bundle because I, like many other professionals, experience the pain of an email inbox and they're trying to make that easier for us."
• Coconut, a current account product designed for freelancers and small-business owners. Kingsley said: "We had a great interview meeting with them. The team here felt instinctively that they'd enjoy working with them. It also feels like a great outcome to help a business whose reason for being is to make life easier for small businesses – because they need all the help they can get."
• CreditMint, which is building a blockchain to trade digital assets. Kingsley said blockchain is "fast becoming ubiquitous, and so it's great to have at least one of our new cohort doing something in the blockchain space".
• Magway, which is aiming to create a new e-commerce delivery system to transport packages via underground pipes with magnetic propulsion. Kingsley comments: "All you have to do is go to their website and look at the intro video, and you'll understand how exciting and compelling a proposition it is."
• Tully, which helps people manage their debts with planning, money coaching and support. Kingsley said: "Not only are they an interesting business, but they have an overtly social, good purpose."