Tech Nation Lists 10 Fintech Pioneers In Future Fifty 2019 Cohort
via Forbes
Revolut, Monzo, Starling Bank, Currencycloud, Aire, Blockchain, MarketInvoice, Quantexa, Nested and Salary Finance were revealed to be among the 24 most dynamic and fast-growing late-stage technology companies to be chosen to join Future Fifty’s 2019 cohort.
Founded in 2013, Future Fifty works to champion the best British technology companies and provide support as they embark on their scale up journey on a national and international level. Alongside this, the programmes helps the organizations create jobs and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Those part of the 2019 cohort will benefit from advice from industry experts and access to global talent, the latter having been made easier by a Tech Nation visa team who helps with Tier 1 visa applications. In earlier years, companies have also gained considerable traction in their markets after joining Future Fifty cohorts.
The programme is supported by Barclays and Macfarlanes who also offer expertise to aid the companies’ growth with roundtables, open hours and thought leadership.
Tech Nation and Dealroom data has also revealed that the U.K. has attracted a whopping $7.9 billion in funding in 2018 and closed the gap for exits of venture-backed companies with the U.S. As well as this U.K. sales, IPOs and mergers were worth $40 billion – ahead of every other European country – which points to the success of the tech sector as a whole in the country.
With over 40 percent of Future Fifty 2019 companies being in the fintech industry, which is attracting high levels of investment at present, Parveen Dhanda, Future Fifty Programme Lead at Tech Nation said: “This is important because this growth in the fintech sector has been fuelled by all of the support available for fintech companies at the startup stage and we are now seeing the effect of this support. This is also a reflection of the strength of the ecosystem and of the UK’s excellence in fintech.
“Furthermore, the fact that 76 percent of founders on the programme are first-time founders shows how founders and companies are being supported throughout their growth journey. The fintech companies on the programme were chosen because of their scalability. This year we opened up the eligibility criteria to companies which had raised series B, rather than just assessing companies on their revenue – this allowed for companies which weren’t revenue generating to be on the programme.
“The companies will benefit from peer to peer learning from companies in their own sector, but also in other sectors on the programme.” Stan Laurent, partner at Highland Europe added: “The startup ecosystem in the U.K. is alive and kicking, disrupting consumer markets with radically superior services beyond commerce – such as in the finance/banking world – and B2B markets with innovative and easy-to-deploy software/SaaS solutions. This is the answer to the productivity improvements all are hoping for in this country. No wonder we’re seeing record levels of investment in tech; expect a lot more to come!”
Anne Boden, CEO, Starling Bank, also provided comment on the challenger bank’s inclusion in this year’s cohort: “Banking is going through a period of radical change and Starling Bank has played a key role in disrupting the old order and driving better and more responsive services. We’re really looking forward to working with other entrepreneurs from our own and other sectors.”
This Year’s Cohort:
- Fintech: Aire (London); Blockchain (London); Currencycloud (London); MarketInvoice (London); Monzo Bank (London); Nested (London); Quantexa (London); Starling Bank (London); Revolut (London); Salary Finance (London)
- Data Analytics: Behavox (London)
- Ecommerce and Marketplaces: Bizuma (London)
- Hardware Devices and Internet of Things: Bulb Energy (London); M Squared Lasers (Glasgow); Reach Robotics (Bristol)
- Digital Entertainment: Culture Trip (London); Mediatonic (London)
- Software as a Service: Ensek (Nottingham); Kimble Applications (London)
- Cyber Security: Garrison Technology (London).
- Biotech and Healthcare: Ieso Digital Health (Cambridge).
- Adtech and Marketing: GlobalWebIndex (London).
- Enterprise Software: Perkbox (London); StarLeaf (Watford).
