The fintech startups to watch in the UK

Tech Nation has announced which early-stage UK financial technology (fintech) startups will join its first support programme targeted at the sector.

The UK is a hotbed for financial technologies, with about £12.5bn invested in UK fintech companies in the first half of this year – more than in US equivalents – according to KPMG.

The 20 chosen fintech firms (see list below), which include business-to-business and business-to-consumer offerings, hint at things to come in the financial services sector.

Over the five-month duration of the programme, the companies will receive coaching and will be introduced to the wider fintech ecosystem. They will receive advice from seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and established business executives. They will also be taken to the US to meet potential investors and partners.

Fintech services offered by the companies include payment solutions, ways to promote financial inclusion and fair access to financial services, open banking services, SME-focused finance tools, systems to help firms meet financial services regulations, artificial intelligence, and anti-money-laundering software aimed at crypto currencies.

The startups also reflect a maturing sector, with seven of them based outside London and eight headed up by women. Fintech companies on the programme from outside London hail from Norwich, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Canterbury, Manchester and Bristol.

Gregoire Michel, fintech programme lead at Tech Nation, said: “When we devised Tech Nation’s first fintech programme, we anticipated that entrepreneurs were increasingly building great companies in the regions. The number of applications we received from the regions bore out this hypothesis, and while London remains the most important fintech cluster in the UK, we are delighted that more than a third of the first cohort will come from outside London.”

Richard Theo, CEO at Wealthify, said: “The six million dollar question is whether there’s a future unicorn lurking within the 20 companies. Given the great range of ideas, the strengths of the teams and the support they can now get, there’s a really good chance that there’s one in there.”

The average funding received by the 20 companies already is just over £1m, average revenues are £260,000 and the companies already have an average of 6,640 users.