Tech Nation accepts 51 fintechs into fifth growth programme

Companies accepted into the newest Fintech cohort are working to transform all areas of the finance sector; from insurance and investment, to blockchain and digital assets. The Fintech 5.0 cohort includes an ethical investment platform which is committed to addressing climate emergency (Abundance), a credit card that helps young people build credit to jumpstart their futures (Keebo), and a platform to help people set up a Will and digital end-of-life plan to make things easier for loved ones left behind (Kinherit).

Together, the new Fintech companies have raised more funds than any cohort in previous years, with a collective total raise of £149.2mn (up from £128.1mn last year).

Nearly half (49%) of the companies have at least one non-British founder, and they operate across 38 different countries (including the UK).

New record heights for fintech

The high-growth companies join the programme as fintech grows significantly across the UK. The fintech sector has reached entirely new heights, already receiving $9.3bn in 2022 (January - August), up from $8.67bn for the same period in 2021 ($13.2bn overall in 2021), and Q1 2022 hit an all-time record for quarterly investment into UK fintech (at $5.5bn).

More than three quarters of investment made into UK fintech in 2022 so far ($7.2bn) has come from US investors (up from half of investment in H1 of 2021), showing the international appeal of some of the UK’s world leading fintech firms.

With 47 of the UK’s 130 tech unicorns being fintechs - and fintech accounting for almost half (4) of the 11 UK tech companies that became unicorns in H1 of 2022 - the sector is driving the UK as a leading unicorn hub. After the UK, the next largest unicorn hub in Europe is France, home to 11 fintech unicorns, followed by the Netherlands and Germany, which both have 9.

In 2022, the top 4 UK fintechs to receive highest funding are FNZ (at $1.4bn, growth equity), Checkout.com (at $1bn, Series D funding), Bloom ($300mn, Series A) and GoCardless ($312mn, Series G).

In 2022, Tech Nation’s Future Fifty alumni Checkout.com became the UK’s most valuable fintech company, surpassing Revolut (which is valued at $33bn, and was the UK’s most valuable fintech in 2021) with a valuation of £40bn. Combined, the UK’s fintech companies are valued at $371.9bn, up 23% from $301.2bn last year.

The aim of this year’s Fintech programme

Tech Nation’s six-month government-backed Fintech programme was created to support fintech and insurtech companies in the UK. Companies accepted into the programme have access to networking events with key stakeholders, peer-to-peer meetups, and insights sessions delivered by established fintech entrepreneurs, investors and partners, which give cohort members the tools and knowledge they need to scale.

This year’s successful applicants will gain access to multiple insight sessions over 6 months (covering core issues, from investment to sales, partnerships and international expansion) delivered by later-stage founders, all focused on key scaling challenges, as well as regular networking opportunities (with investors, VCs, corporates and peers).
Tech Nation is delighted to partner with Cooper Parry to deliver the Fintech 5.0 programme this year.

Empowering all of the scaling companies in the new Fintech cohort is at the core of Tech Nation’s mission to fuel the growth of tech scaleups who are helping us create a stronger economy, society and future.

Quotes:
Will Miller, Chief Growth Officer at Tech Nation, said: “In 2022, we have seen another wave of fintech startup and scaleup companies thrive in all regions of the UK. With Q1 2022 setting an all-time record for quarterly VC investment into UK fintech, and the UK now being home to 47 fintech 'unicorns' - with 4 new fintech unicorns created this year alone - it's clear that the UK's fintech sector is going from strength to strength. It's a pleasure to support these businesses along their scaling journey as they continue to cement the UK as a global fintech powerhouse."

Ezechi Britton, CTO in Residence at Impact X Capital and Fintech 5.0 Judge, said: “The calibre of startups in this year's Tech Nation's Fintech 5.0 programme has been outstanding. Having the privilege of reviewing all of these great startups just hammers home for me why the UK is leading the way in Fintech globally. Our technical and financial talent in this country is extraordinary and I can't wait to see what this next cohort achieves.”

Jelena Ewart, Co-founder of Upside Partners and Fintech 5.0 Judge, said: “If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that our ideal future isn’t going to just build itself. It was refreshing to see so many companies with real potential to empower us to lower the cost of our dreams and to contribute towards a world that truly values us. This isn’t just finance imbued with modern tech; it's the start of a fintech uprising built by the people for the people!"

Amir Nooriala, CCO of CallSign and Fintech 5.0 Judge, said: “As someone who has worked in 2 separate firms that have been through different Tech Nation programmes, it’s been both an honour and a delight to support the Fintech programme as a judge and mentor. With the 5.0 cohort, we have seen yet another high quality and innovative set of startups enter, and I am very much looking forward to seeing their growth journey.”

Maria Pasquale, Co-founder of UpSpark and Fintech 5.0 Judge, said: “It is an absolute pleasure to be working with Tech Nation in supporting the best of UK fintech. I am excited for the selected startups, Tech Nation and the UK more broadly. The Fintech 5.0 cohort is diverse, innovative and truly disruptive. I cannot wait to see how the companies will grow and accelerate as part of the programme. Tech Nation has been phenomenal at fueling the growth of the most ambitious UK founders, teams and businesses as the UK continues to be a center of excellence and world leader in the global fintech industry.”

Founder quotes:
Ciaran Savage, Managing Director of Card Industry Professionals, said: “Joining the Tech Nation Fintech 5.0 cohort will provide an opportunity to gain insights from well-established fintech entrepreneurs, network with decision makers, founders and ambitious companies who are at a similar stage of growth to ourselves. We are proud to be included and look forward to developing further with the support of Tech Nation.”

Suresh Vaghjiani, CEO of CLOWD9, said: “CLOWD9 is absolutely delighted to be part of Tech Nation's Fintech 5.0 programme! This will provide us with invaluable support and ensure we continue to play to our strengths in both technology and team; helping us to unlock future growth potential. To be given the opportunity to work alongside and learn from experienced fintech entrepreneurs who have been through this journey can not be underestimated.”

Megan Bingham-Walker, Co-founder & CEO of Anansi, said: “We are thrilled to be part of the Fintech 5.0 cohort and will be taking full advantage of the platform that the Tech Nation programme offers us to broadcast the benefits of embedded insurance to the ecommerce ecosystem. We are also keen to benefit from expanding our network to thought leaders within the Fintech industry and share learnings with peers.”

Prasad Prabhakaran, COO of Bithyve, said: “Tech Nation effectively develops UK Fintech, making the UK a popular location for tech innovation. We are excited to be part of Fintech 5.0, as the programme will give us access to an ecosystem of upcoming Fintech platforms and the chance to work with other companies. We view this as an opportunity to validate some of our hypotheses and meet potential investors for future scaling.”

Richard Hoskins, Co-Principal of Kin Fund Services, said: “The UK leads the world in Fintech and Tech Nation's Fintech programme stands head and shoulders above the rest. We're thrilled to be growing our business in a world class peer group.”

Thomas Gillan, CFO of Br-dge, said: “Starting up is tough, scaling is harder. We're delighted to be part of the Tech Nation cohort to be able to share ideas and experiences with a group of people who are on the same journey.”

Richard Blakesley, Founder & CEO of Capital Pilot, said: "We are thrilled to be joining Tech Nation's Fintech 5.0 programme. We've established the quality of our Investability Rating. It has already powered dozens of investments in UK Startups by Boost Fund 1 (www.boostfund.uk). We look forward to working with an exciting peer group to scale rapidly and make a global success of our mission to deliver equal access to capital for everyone, everywhere."

Amy Whitell, Co-founder and CEO of Collctiv, said: “We were over the moon to be accepted onto Tech Nation FinTech 5.0 programme! The Tech Nation team has already been such a support throughout the early stages of our company, and we’re looking forward to being part of a group of inspiring fintechs all learning together.”

Gareth Bailey, CEO and Co-founder of DebtStream, said: “We are proud to be recognised as a leading player in the UK’s fintech space as part of the Fintech 5.0 cohort of companies. Fintech 5.0 is about giving us the tools and knowledge to scale. This programme will help us gain great insight and guidance from successful Fintech entrepreneurs, supporting us as we continue to lead the way to change debt collection with a digital first approach.”

Steven Darrah, Founder & CEO of Fuelled, said: “We've always believed what we are doing is powerful and needed for the insurance industry to make forward steps. We're so excited to get validation from peers in the space through Fintech 5.0, which we know can help elevate Fuelled to the next level.”

Inga Mullins, CEO & Founder of Fluency, said: “We are delighted that Fluency has been selected as a standout company by Tech Nation for their Fintech 5.0 programme. This programme’s alumni includes some of the UK’s biggest names in Fintech. We look forward to being able to leverage insights from some of the most established Fintech entrepreneurs and investors, as well as share our journey with other companies within the programme.”

Alexander Legoshin, CEO & Founder of Gemba, said: “The Gemba team is building a product that adds value and revolutionises financial markets: a simple but robust business management tool based on a scalable payment infrastructure, that just works. We are excited to be a part of the Fintech 5.0 programme and we believe that it will help us learn, improve our product and scale.”

Dima Pimakhov, Founder & CEO of GoSolo, said: “Super excited to be part of the Fintech programme. GoSolo helps international startups to launch in the UK so we are looking forward to exploring synergies with Tech Nation and the wider community, as well as getting support on our growth and investment journey.”

Michael Bristow, CEO & Co-founder of CrowdProperty, said: “We are delighted to be recognised by being selected for this prestigious programme for the game-changing, highly scalable approach we are taking to the property development finance market. Our innovative, customer-centric approach is core to our mission to unlock the potential of small and medium sized property developers in building more, much needed, under-supplied homes, helping them to grow their businesses quicker and drive spend in the economy on labour, materials and services.”

Sean Kiernan, Founder & CEO of Greengage, said: “We’re honoured to be accepted into Tech Nation’s Fintech 5.0 cohort. Greengage is excited about bringing our vision for digital merchant banking to life, from our base in the City of London - and with digital roads to the regions - to support SME growth across the UK, with the support and mentorship of the Tech Nation community. We are looking forward to engaging and growing on the journey ahead.”

Kate Eadie, COO at Insignis Cash Solutions, said: “We are very excited to be part of Tech Nation Fintech 5.0. As Insignis Cash Solutions moves into this scaleup phase, we are looking forward to sharing in, and learning from, the challenges, experiences and wins from our peers in the program.”

Brett Shanley, CEO & Founder of Knoma, said: “Knoma is delighted to be joining Tech Nation’s Fintech programme. We are excited to meet the wider cohort and benefit from the vast knowledge of Tech Nation in guiding and scaling tech businesses to the next level.”

Kene Ezeji-Okoye, Co-founder & President of Millicent, said: “We're incredibly excited to be receiving support from Tech Nation, an organisation that has played an important role in nearly every British fintech success story. The opportunity to meet with - and learn from - world class entrepreneurs and investors is hugely impactful for Millicent, helping us to scale quickly, and play a part in positioning the UK at the forefront of the digital asset space.”

Vivek Madlani, Co-founder & CEO of Multiply, said: “I am really excited to be able to join the programme. I hope to be able to gain insight into the drivers of the market and what future requirements customers need.”

Danny Goh, CEO & Co-founder of Nexus Frontier Tech, said: “I’m excited that Nexus Frontier Tech has been selected to join the Fintech 5.0 cohort! I believe this will be an invaluable opportunity for us to learn from and collaborate with the other founders to grow and scale our businesses in a way that helps the fintech community achieve collective progress and success.”

Pete Ridlington FPFS, Chartered Financial Planner & CEO and Founder at Ningi, said: “We look to some of Tech Nation’s previous Fintech programme cohorts and see our fintech heroes. We're super excited to be in the mix with these legends in the effort to digitise and democratise access for financial services.”

Ewan Dickie, CEO & Founder of Punk Money, said: “As a leading force in global Fintech and the spiritual home of Punk, there is no better city for our business to be based. Punk Money is proud to be recognised as one of the most progressive and disruptive Fintech businesses in the UK and we look forward to joining all the other fantastic businesses as part of Tech Nation’s Fintech 5.0 cohort.”

Youssef Darwich, Co-founder & CEO of Nosso, said: “It's great to be part of the Tech Nation Fintech programme and follow in the footsteps of some great UK fintechs and startups. I'm really excited about meeting other fintech founders in a similar stage of growth as Nosso and learning from them and the wider programme.”

Evan Michaels, Co-founder & CEO of HELPFUL, said: “Privileged to join Fintech 5.0 - the springboard that has launched some of the best UK fintechs into household names - and learn from the best in the country. Thank you for the amazing opportunity.”

Kosta Du, CEO & Founder of Dapio, said: “As an endorsed by Tech Nation, Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Visa holder, I'm excited to receive continuous support from Tech Nations. I spent the last five years getting to the point of being approved for one more support programme, which I hope will help me even more to succeed in the UK.”

Danica Damljanovic, CEO & Founder of Sentient Machines, said: “Our mission to ‘give tin man a heart’ drives the latest cutting-edge AI conversational analytics and insights to help innovative fintech companies harness the priceless intelligence hidden in millions of their customer interactions. This exciting programme for Fintech innovation, collaboration and step change, necessitates our realisation that humans and machines are stronger together.”

Richard Tucker, Founder & Chief Rooster at Rooster, said: “I am really excited that Rooster has been selected to be part of the Fintech programme. My previous start up was a Future Fifty company, so I have firsthand experience of the value of being part of Tech Nation.”

Daniel Sawko, CEO and Co-founder of Ship Shape, said: “Improving Venture Capital and Private Markets is a critical new frontier within Fintech. We're looking forward to accelerating our search engine's growth as part of this programme.”

Tom Somers, Director of SkenarioLabs, said: “We are really excited to meet like-minded people across the Fintech ecosystem in order to build up our business and meet our aims of decarbonising the built environment!”

Daniel George, Founder & CEO of StepEx, said: “The revolution to remove the price barrier to education and training has begun and is available at top tier education providers. Replacing upfront course fees that exclude the less wealthy with a payment of a share of future earnings. As we scale this to solution, we are delighted to have the help of the Fintech programme community's disruptive entrepreneurs, governmental leaders, and investors.”

Shahid Munir, Co-founder of Minted, said: “We are delighted to be considered to join Tech Nation’s Fintech programme. It's an incredible opportunity for us and could not have come at a better time as we are poised for growth and development.”

Melissa Siah, CEO & Co-founder of Syntacog, said: “The Syntacog team is thrilled to be part of the FinTech 5.0 cohort. It's an amazing opportunity to meet and learn from entrepreneurs, investors and partners - a rocket booster for us in scaling our regulatory compliance technology!”

Claude Goulet, CEO of Siege FX, said: “We are very pleased to join the Tech Nation programme. As we look to scale, we think this will benefit us greatly both in terms of what the platform brings as well as the opportunity to join, and share with, a great community of UK fintech founders."

Philip Kelvin, Co-founder and CEO of tranch, said: “We're very excited to join the Fintech 5.0 programme. At tranch, we're transforming how businesses pay for large invoices from software to services. This has never been more needed given the uncertain macro environment. As we scale in the UK and the US, the opportunity to learn through the Tech Nation programme is incredibly valuable.”

Michael Doyle, Founder of Bondsmith, said: “The team and I are excited to learn from the experience of those involved in fintech success stories - and to join a cohort of peers facing similar challenges to us.”

Daniel Howett, CEO & Co-founder of Recap, said: “We are thrilled to be awarded a place on the Fintech Programme and to be recognised as one of the UK's leading Fintech scaleups. We're looking forward to supercharging our growth plans and networking with other Fintechs as we prepare for raising our Series A round.”

Mohammad Dabbas, Chief of Staff and Head of Investor Relations at Zvilo, said: “Zvilo is a credit-led challenger bank for the Balkans and emerging markets, providing accessible credit, low fees, and seamless connectivity. As part of the Fintech 5.0 cohort, we look forward to expanding our network with other start-ups and like-minded entrepreneurs. The Fintech programme will support our ambition to scale and goal to make affordable financial products accessible to all.”

Sophie Hughes, Co-founder of Mazuma, said: “We are delighted to be selected for the Fintech 5.0 cohort and proud that Mazuma has been recognised as a leading player within the fintech sector here in the UK. We look forward to networking with fellow fintech entrepreneurs and learning the tools to help us scale.”

Dan Tammas-Hastings, MD and Founder of RiskSave, said: “Great to be accepted - excited about scaling with Tech Nation’s support!”

Gareth Hewitt, CEO of Lemonedge, said: “Excited to be involved with peers going through the same scaling issues in Fintech.”

Sanjeev Jeyakumar, CEO of Lenkie, said: “Excited to learn from the experiences of other cohort members and experts in the Fintech 5.0 program to help us as we scale.”

Richard Thomson, Director of Kinherit, said: “Looking forward to taking it to the next level!”