Thames Valley: Companies join fintech sector initiative

Tech Nation, the growth platform for tech companies and leaders, has announced that 31 tech companies that have been selected to join the Fintech Cohort 3.0, including BankBI and Streeva based in the Thames Valley.

The cohort 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, at 20%; with this being the first year that insurtech companies qualified for the programme. It reflects the strong growth of insurtech as a sub-segment of fintech in recent years.

The six-month fintech programme is tailor-made to support founders and the wider leadership team for UK fintechs. It consists of insights sessions delivered by some of the most 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% 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 £3.3m and employ 18 people.

BankBI, Bracknell, offers senior management in banks, credit unions and the microfinance industry the chance to measure, monitor and manage their business in real time using industry standard ratios, dashboards and automated management information.

Graham Goble, CEO & founder of BankBI, commented: “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.”

Streeva, Guildford, automates everyday processes by making transactions smarter. Its goal is to make payments work better for everyone, starting with tax benefits for UK charities. Its initial solution Swiftaid automates the traditional Gift Aid process used by many charities, handling the entire process for digital donations, and at no extra cost to the donor.

Beth Michael, COO and co-founder of Streeva, commented: “The team are thrilled to be selected. With Tech Nation’s expertise and support network around us, we will inevitably reach the next level in our exciting journey. This will not only help us scale up our initial solution Swiftaid, which helps UK charities reach millions lost in Gift Aid, but will ultimately support us as we continue to build game-changing solutions that are set to hugely benefit the UK economy.”

With the UK's historic strength in financial services, combined with world-leading policy and regulation in the space, such as Open Banking, the FCA Fintech Sandbox, and the new Fintech Pledge, it is hoped that these companies will contribute to building a world-renowned fintech powerhouse in the UK.

New data reveals that the UK continues to lead Europe for fintech VC investment. This year, $2.5 billion has been invested in UK fintech companies so far, with investment levels peaking in July 2020.