A booster program in Geneva has accepted a raft of start-ups, including an Asian robo advisor.

Backed by BNP Paribas and Lausanne's prestigious technical university Ecole Polytechnique, Fintech Fusion is a promoter of start-ups in three main areas: finance, fitness and health, and property technology and smart cities.

The Geneva-based project is the French-Swiss region's answer to Zurich's Kickstarter, backed by Swiss giants UBS and Credit Suisse, and F10, a newer Zurich-based initiative of SIX, the Swiss stock exchange, which has also won the backing of Julius Baer and Italian insurer Generali.

On Tuesday, Fusion said it has taken up 23 new start-ups, including five financial firms.

Stepping Stone to Europe

The most well-known is Bambu, a Singapore-based robo advisor for the ultra-rich. Others include data administrator Fred De La Compta, stockpicker Hello Izi, credit risk specialist Systemkredit, and Yawave, a digital tool which seeks to link up high-end physical assets with investors.

Bambu has already had initial success in Asia, but is joining the Geneva booster in order «to get European reach and gain deeper understanding on the specificities of the European and Swiss marketplaces,» Fusion Chief Executive Sal Matteis said in a statement.