Bracknell tech company selected to join top UK fintech scale-up programme

Bracknell-based BankBI Limited, a financial technology start-up is to join the latest cohort of fintech companies which will be supported by Tech Nation, the national organisation which supports UK tech companies and their leaders.

BankBI Limited helps senior management in banks, credit unions and the microfinance industry measure, monitor and manage their business in real time using industry standard ratios, dashboards and automated management information. Graham Goble, CEO & Founder of BankBI, said:“The BankBI team are tremendously excited to have been chosen for Fintech 3.0. We’re really looking forward to learning from, as well as contributing to the process, and confident that the takeaways will contribute to our ongoing plans for growth and open further routes to scale in the analytics market for financial institutions.”

The 31-strong cohort on the Tech Nation programme includes companies from across the fintech sector operating in areas such as: insurance, regtech, open banking and digital ID. This year’s cohort features a high proportion of insurtechs (Ed says: "Yes, that's a new word on us too. Apparently "insurtech" refers to the use of technology innovations designed to squeeze out savings and efficiencies from the current insurance industry model. Insurtech is a combination of the words “insurance” and “technology,” inspired by the term fintech.)

The six-month fintech programme supports founders and the wider leadership team for UK fintechs. It consists of insight sessions delivered by established fintech entrepreneurs, investors and partners, covering topics such as sales, partnerships with incumbents and expanding internationally and to give companies and founders the tools and knowledge they need to scale.

60 per cent of companies joining the programme are from outside of London, highlighting the strength of fintech hubs across the UK and the maturity of the fintech sector outside of traditional financial services centres. On average the companies have raised £3.3 million and employ 18 people.

Another company based in the south east which is joining Tech Nation' cohort is IE Hub in Milton Keynes.

IE Hub makes it easy to record and share income and expense information conveniently and with multiple parties, using any device. Creditors can use the CRM portal to automatically validate data provided, against what’s held in the credit bureau, and view a customers affordability journey over their lifetime. Kapil Madan, Director of IE Hub, said: “IE Hub empowers individuals to control and share their personal affordability data with organisations that need it. It is ideally placed to empower the millions who are financially impacted by COVID-19. Tech Nation's Fintech programme will help us reach regulators and all those organisations that want to help their customers. It will also provide us access to like-minded investors for scaling up.”

New data reveals that the UK continues to lead Europe for fintech VC investment. This year, $2.5bn has been invested in UK fintech companies so far, with investment levels peaking in July 2020 ($1bn). By comparison, German fintechs have raised $1.09bn and Swedish fintechs have raised $1.06bn this year to date. The UK also leads Europe for fintech unicorns, with 22 fintech unicorns, compared to 6 in the Netherlands, 4 in Sweden, 3 in France and 3 in Germany.

Liam Gray, Fintech Lead, Tech Nation said: "The UK fintech ecosystem is truly world leading and its strength is clearly demonstrated by the calibre of companies on this year's Tech Nation Fintech programme. Our third cohort will officially introduce insurtechs to the programme, a sub-segment of fintech that has matured significantly in recent years. This cohort will also be the most geographically diverse group of fintechs we've ever had, with 60% located outside of London, highlighting the growing prevalence of regional fintech hubs."

Tech Nation received 143 applications for the programme, the most ever received and up by almost 20% from last year. Judges, mentors and advisors include many of the leading figures in the fintech sector.  Catherine Wines, Co-founder, WorldRemit, Richard Theo, Founder & CEO, Wealthify and Lou Smith, CDO, Lloyd’s. Tech Nation’s fintech programme has supported many of the UK’s leading fintech companies, including Kani, Credit Kudos, Funding Options, Sustainably, Good Box and Primary Bid.