EXCLUSIVE – Financial services-focused conversational AI company, #Clinc is contemplating a B2C #product, Clinc CEO and co-founder Jason Mars told Bank Innovation. Fresh after winning “Best in Show” at Bank AI a few weeks ago, Clinc announced at Money 20/20 in Las Vegas yesterday a new partnership with Turkey’s largest bank IsBank, to integrate its […]
Bank Innovation
With the world’s largest financial services sector and a booming tech sector, #London is undoubtedly the capital for any #fintech startup in Europe, combining the key ingredients for success: capital, talent, regulatory and government support and demographic diversity.
In 2015, investment in fintech companies around the world rocketed by 106% to US$ 13.8 billion through 653 deals, according to the Pulse of Fintech report by KPMG and CB Insights. London alone accounted for US$ 743.7 million through 50 deals.
Image: Tower Bridge, London, via Pixabay
The strength of London’s policy environment is coming from the supportiveness and accessibility of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Recent initiatives have allowed businesses to test out financial products and services in a proposed environment that is exempt from standard regulations.
Notably, the FCA launched over the summer the regulatory sandbox, which is designed to foster fintech innovation while remaining under the supervision of the UK&8217;s financial regulator.
In November, the authority unveiled the 18 fintech companies constituting the sandbox&8217;s first batch.
Among the companies selected, Billon, Otonomos, Nivaura, Epiphyte, Govcoin, SETL and BitX are three ventures applying #blockchain #technology to varied areas in financial services.
Billon is an e-money platform based on blockchain technology that facilitates the secure transfer and holding of funds using a mobile app. BitX and Epiphyte provide cross-border money transfer services powered by blockchain technology. Govcoin, a technology provider that has partnered with the Department of Work and Pensions, is exploring the feasibility of making mobile emergency payments using blockchain technology. Otonomos offers a platform that represents private companies’ shares electronically on the blockchain, enabling them to manage shareholdings, conduct bookbuilding online and facilitate transfers. And Nivaura uses automation and blockchain for issuance and lifecycle management of private placement securities.
SETL provides a smart-card enabled retail payment system based on its OpenCSD distributed ledger technology. The company has recently raised US$ 39.5 million from angel investors, according to Bloomberg.
In November, SETL, Deloitte and Metro Bank successfully tested a new contactless payment card that enables retail payments to be processed and settled almost instantly by using blockchain technology. The car is expected to go into commercial product by the end of 2017.
Blockchain ventures are thriving in the UK, thanks to its financial regulator. “London is a financial center for fintech, and regulators get enormous credit for that,” Peter Randall, CEO at SETL, told Bloomberg.
Epiphyte, which moved from San Francisco to London, said the decision was influenced by the FCA&8217;s welcoming approach toward fintech.
According to Edan Yago, CEO of Epiphyte, the FCA has &8220;a better understanding of how to drive innovation than other regulators. Sandbox or no, the regulation in the UK was superior.&8221;
Similarly to Epiphyte, Italian startup Euklid plans to move its headquarters to London, naming the &8220;lighter regulatory environment&8221; and large pool of investors.
Originally founded in July 2015, Euklid&8217;s goal is to create a completely autonomous and transparent investment bank run by artificial intelligence and that does not charge clients management or entry fees of any kind.
The startup selected London&8217;s Level39 as its new center of operations where it will implement its international strategies.
Last month, British state-owned Royal Mint announced a new partnership with Chicago-based CME Group to build a gold bullion trading market using blockchain technology. The platform, set to launch in 2017, will see the Royal Mint issue Royal Mint Gold (RMG), a digital record of ownership for gold stored at a bullion vault storage facility. It intends to disrupt the way traders and investors trade, execute and settle gold, providing greater efficiency, speed and lower operational costs.
London Blockchain Week in January 2017 will dedicate an entire week to blockchain and distributed ledger technology. On January 20, the Blockchain Week will kick off with the Hack-The-Block Blockchain Hackathon which will run until January 22. The challenge will focus on using blockchain technology in practical solutions.
On January 23 and 24, the Blockchain Conference will cover the latest trends and will feature presentations from top industry experts. Topics will include smart contracts, Ethereum and BigchainDB. Blockchain Week will finish on January 25 and 26 with two workshops. (Fintechnews Readers will get 20% Discount with Code &8220;FTSW&8221;)
Featured image via Pixabay.
The post Blockchain In London: An Overview appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
#London is a bustling metropolis of commerce, thought of as a titan of industry and innovation—no matter what industry is under discussion. However, recent economic concerns, most notably the effects of the Brexit on business sectors including #fintech, have led some to suggest that the city is no longer theRead More
Bank Innovation
Simon Dixon, CEO of BnktotheFuture, lays out his vision for #blockchain startups and makes the case for #bitcoin.
With significant support from the government, the UK is poised to become the #fintech capital of the world, generating already £6.6 billion (US$ 8.7 billion) in revenues as of 2015 and employing over 60,000 people, second only to California with 74,000, according to Sonovate.
Digital is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the UK economy and according to the Global Financial Centres Index, #London ranks first as a global financial center ahead of New York, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Image credit: City of London by QQ7, via Shutterstock
Additionally, London-based fintech startups benefit from tax breaks and programs designed to foster growth, such as R&D tax incentives that are available to companies that employ fewer than 500 people, according to Tech City UK, and it is believed that a fintech company in London can reasonably expect to go from idea to operation much more quickly than in other countries.
This makes the UK, and London in particular, fertile ground for fintech development.
Today, London hosts some of the most successful fintech innovators in the world: payments startups TransferWise, WorldRemit and Bankable, peer-to-peer lending marketplace Funding Circle, online investment management service Nutmeg, forex startup Currency Cloud, as well as digital challenger banks and neo-banks Atom Bank, Tandem, Mondo and Starling, are just a few of them.
In 2015, the UK VC-backed fintech investment activity reached an all-time high with US$ 962 million through 61 deals, according to KPMG and CB Insights’ The Pulse of Fintech 2015 in Review report. London alone attracted over US$ 743 million in venture capital through 50 deals with the largest ones being Funding Circle&8217;s US$ 150 million Series E round, Atom Bank&8217;s US$ 128 million Series B round and WorldRemit&8217;s US$ 100 million Series B round.
Today, we take a look at London&8217;s leading fintech #investors.
Founded in Geneva in 1996, Index Ventures is a Europe- and San Francisco-based global venture capital firm focused on making investments in information #technology and life sciences companies.
The firm has invested in 160 companies in 24 countries and employs over 35,000 employees worldwide. Its principal offices are located in London and San Francisco.
Index Ventures&8217; portfolio of fintech companies includes iZettle, Clinkle, TransferWise, Xapo, Swipely, BitPay, iZettle, CrowdRise and Funding Circle.
Launched in May 2007 by a group of 30 European investors, Seedcamp invests capital into pre-seed and seed stage startups, providing up to €200k and a lifelong platform of learning, networking and capital to support the most ambitious founders.
As of September 2015, Seedcamp has a portfolio of 192 companies and is backed by over 30 institutional venture capital firms and angel investors.
Seedcamp&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Transferwise, Monese, Finance Fox, WealthKernel, Traderion, Elliptic and Zercatto.
Balderton Capital is a London, UK-based venture capital firm that invests between US$ 1 million to US$ 20 million into early-stage, primarily in Europe-based technology and Internet startup companies.
Originally founded in 2000 as Benchmark Capital Europe, Balderton Capital became fully independent in 2007. It has made over 100 early-stage investments since 2000 and currently manages over US$ 2.2 billion in assets.
Balderton Capital&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Zopa, Wonga, Nutmeg and Crowdcube.
The London Co-Investment Fund is a government-backed fund launched in 2014. It is founded and managed by Funding London and Capital Enterprise.
The London Co-Investment Fund has raised £25 million from the Mayor of London’s Growing Places Fund to co-invest in seed rounds between £250,000- £1,000,000, led by selected co-investment partners.
The London Co-Investment Fund&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Droplet, Stockflare, Curve and StockViews.
Founded in 1996 and with offices in London, New York, Stockholm and Oslo, Northzone is a venture capital firm investing in tech startups.
So far, Northzone has invested in over 100 companies and is managing over US$ 1 billion in assets.
Northzone&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Klarna, Market Invoice, iZettle, Auka, BehavioSec, Crosslend and Qapital.
Founded in 1999, Octopus Ventures is a London and New York-based venture capital firm that does seed, early-stage venture, and later stage venture investments.
Octopus Ventures invests between US$ 200K to US$ 25 million into promising ventures from the commerce and marketplaces, financial services, hardware and infrastructure and software and services sectors.
Octopus Ventures&8217; portfolio of fintech companies includes Currency Fair, Calastone, Elliptic, Mi-Pay and Semafone.
Founded in 1983, Accel is an American venture capital firm investing in companies from inception through the growth stage. The company manages over US$ 8.8 billion from its US offices in Palo Alto, California and San Francisco, California. It has separate operating funds in London, India and China.
Accel&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Circle, Card Spring, Gumroad, Clinkle, Lenddo, Braintree, Nomi and Yodlee.
83North, formerly Greylock IL, is a global venture capital firm with more than US$ 550 million under management. The fund invests in European and Israeli entrepreneurs, across all stages of consumer and enterprise companies. It has offices in London and Tel-Aviv.
83North&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies includes Payoneer, Wonga, iZettle, Marqeta, BlueVine and Ebury.
Founded in 2006, Draper Esprit is a Pan-European venture capital fund that invests into disruptive tech companies at the early and growth stages.
Draper Esprit is a member of the Draper Venture Network, the largest venture capital network in the world with 140 investment professionals and over 600 portfolio companies.
Draper Esprit&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies include MoPay and Crowdcube.
Founded in 2010, Anthemis Group is a venture capital firm that invests in seed, early-stage and later stage ventures that are tackling financial services and related technologies and infrastructures.
Anthemis Group has invested in Betterment, Moven, Simple, Vericash, Currency Cloud, and Fidor Bank.
Passion Capital is a London-based early stage venture capital firm launched in 2011 as a private-public hybrid fund with an initial fund of US$ 60 million, of which US$ 40 million was from the United Kingdom government.
Passion Capital has funded 50 early-stage tech startups, backing over 100 founders who have grown their teams to include over 700 team members.
Passion Capital&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies include Mondo, Coinfloor, Flattr, Ginmon, GoCardless and Native.
Notion Capital focuses on fintech, digital marketing and adtech, business intelligence, Big Data and cybersecurity, among other sectors.
Notion Capital&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies include Currency Cloud, GoCardless, DealFlow, TradeShift and Demyst Data.
As of early 2015, General Atlantic has approximately US$ 17.4 billion in assets under management and more than 100 investment professionals based in New York, Greenwich, Palo Alto, Sao Paulo, London, Munich, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Singapore.
General Atlantic&8217;s portfolio of fintech companies include Adyen, Avant, Klarna, Insurity, IIFL Wealth Management, Network International and Options House.
London fintech scene has been going hot with lots of Fintech events in the upcoming months. Some of the notable ones for you to consider to go:
Special Offer: Enter Coupon Code FTN10 when purchasing passes to claim your 10% discount
The European RegTech Congress will provide a platform for the discussions really needed to move the space forward. With a dedicated track to exploring the realities of Regtech adoption, how to harmonise wide ranging platforms and the standards the technology needs to meet. Our practical ‘RegTech in Action’ track featuring dedicated seminars on topics such as the impact the move to Mifid II will have and how RegTech can manage Post-Brexit uncertainty. For more information, visit http://www.regtechevent.com
Special offer: Sign up now with code FNS16VIP to get 15% discount!
The 3rd annual LendIt Europe conference and expo will take place at the InterContinental London – O2. This year’s event will bring together more than 1,000 industry leaders and include the region&8217;s largest online lending expo with more than 2,500 square metres of exhibition space.
Special Offer: Register now with code FINTECHNEWS to get 20% discount!
The event includes a comprehensive conference programme with keynotes, multiple track sessions, a large exhibition and welcomes over 1,000 delegate and 120+ speakers. In addition, Brexit & Global Expansion Summit will play host to a series of high level one-to-one meetings, a range of networking activities and deep dive workshops.
The post Top 13 Fintech Investors in London appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
Nearly two months after the Brexit vote, #London now has a new prime minister, a new government and a new outlook. The capital, the British economy, the rise of UK’s #fintech industry, and by extension all other aspects of financial services in Europe have been undergoing and adapting to these new tremendous changes.
Many people are wondering if London will lose its title “the fintech capital of Europe”. For now, London’s fintech scene seems to remain strong and promising. Many fintech #events are set to take place in London for the rest of 2016. With these fintech events in London, the capital still keeps its position as a strong fintech hub in the region.
Take a look at the outstanding fintech events in London #this #fall below:
Special Offer: 10% Off with code &8220;FTN10&8220;. Register NOW
This One Day deep dive congress in London will bring together traditional Financial Services firms and the hottest emerging FinTechs from across the globe to plot the future of #Robo Advice and wealth management. Featuring discussions on target demographics, technological advances and platform differentiation, along with the opportunity to learn from translational case studies; the congress will highlight the opportunities Robo Advisors can present while addressing the challenges surrounding its optimisation and practical implementation. For more information, visit http://www.roboadvisorcongress.com
The focus on global expansion and foreign investment makes Global Expansion Summit the ideal event platform for much needed discussion on the impact of Brexit on inward investment into the UK and FDI around the world. The event is extremely well timed and the audience and conference content particularly pertinent.
In recognition of this, we are re-branding the show to Brexit & Global Expansion Summit. Our focus on ICT, BPO & Financial Services as well as the underlying theme of global expansion and digital transformation are still the essence of our event. However, we will be adding some Brexit focused content to the conference.
Special Offer: 15% Off with code &8220;FNS16VIP&8220;. Register NOW
Where platforms and investors come to learn, network and do business. The 3rd annual LendIt Europe conference and expo will take place at the InterContinental London – O2. This year’s event will bring together more than 1,000 industry leaders and include the region&8217;s largest online lending expo with more than 2,500 square metres of exhibition space.
Special Offer: 10% Off with code &8220;FTN10&8220;. Register NOW
The European RegTech Congress will provide a platform for the discussions really needed to move the space forward. With a dedicated track to exploring the realities of Regtech adoption, how to harmonise wide ranging platforms and the standards the #technology needs to meet. Our practical ‘RegTech in Action’ track featuring dedicated seminars on topics such as the impact the move to Mifid II will have and how RegTech can manage Post-Brexit uncertainty. For more information, visit http://www.regtechevent.com
Special Offer: 15% Off with code &8220;FNS16VIP&8220;. Register NOW
The focus on global expansion and foreign investment makes Global Expansion Summit the ideal event platform for much needed discussion on the impact of Brexit on inward investment into the UK and FDI around the world. The event is extremely well timed and the audience and conference content particularly pertinent.
In recognition of this, we are re-branding the show to Brexit & Global Expansion Summit. Our focus on ICT, BPO & Financial Services as well as the underlying theme of global expansion and digital transformation are still the essence of our event. However, we will be adding some Brexit focused content to the conference.
The post Top 5 London Fintech Events To Attend This Fall appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
#FemTechLeaders reached out to its UK members for their reaction to the #Brexit vote, and their take on how it would impact the financial services and #technology industries in the short and long term. Here are some of the observations, predictions, and opinions they shared. One interesting thing to note isRead More
Bank Innovation
With adversity comes opportunity.
FinTech – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news
#London – the most competitive #financial centre in the world &8211; has a thriving #Fintech community. It is nearly unbelievable that how many fintech events are set to take place in London this year. According to EventBrite, there are more than 50 fintech events in London from now until the end of #2016. There will be conferences, workshops, summits, seminars, forums and networking events about fintech segmentations such as #blockchain, insurtech, banking, lending, payments, as well as about startups and entrepreneurships. The main purpose of these events is to enhance the dialog between established multi-nationals, innovation firms, disruptive start-ups, government, media and investors.
One of the notable events coming up this June & July is the London Fintech #Week 2016 from July 15-22. Fintech Week is the world’s largest Fintech-focused festival, and this is the 3rd year it is organised. London Fintech Week 2016 comprises a series of conferences, workshops, hackathons, meetups and drinks receptions.
Special Offer: Sign up now with code FTSW to get 15% discount for ticket registration!
Fintech Week London 2016 &8211; Agenda
This year Fintech Week will start with a Blockchain Hackarthon Weekend, followed by 4 days of conferences focusing on important Fintech sectors such as Money and Payments, Capital Markets, Insurance Innovation, Security and Data and so on. Every conference day will also feature a small number of exhibitors. The 5th day is dedicated to workshops run by our partners. Every evening there will be an official meetup, networking event, or drinks reception taking place in various locations across the City of London and Canary Wharf.
Apart from running a number of conferences, hackathons, meetups and private events, Fintech Week London 2016 also plays match-maker to enterprise corporations and innovative start-ups. The event also helps design and enhance innovation and transformation programmes. Their team members come from diverse backgrounds so they’ve layered a transformation consulting offering on top of their events and world class network.
Join Fintech Week London 2016 now to get inspired, learn something, meet new clients, partners, developers, investors and #find value for your business. Investors will also benefit from having hundreds of startups all in one place.
Special Offer For Fintechnews Switzerland: Sign up now with code FTSW to get 15% discount for ticket registration!
*Another upcoming fintech event in London is FinCoder &8211; a conference tailored especially for Fintech technologist, developers and coders.
Fintech developers are changing the face of the financial #services industry. Discover new opportunities, ways to tackle challenges and the latest trends in financial services #technology. The #next billion pound Fintech firm could be in the room.
Special Offer: Sign up now with code FTSW to get 20% discount for ticket registration!
The post What’s the next big thing in Financial Services Technology? – Find out at London Fintech Week 2016 appeared first on Fintech Schweiz Digital Finance News – FintechNewsCH.
A new #London #School of #Economics #paper suggests that #blockchain tech #could alleviate #custody #risks for securities owners.
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