Tech Nation announces 2019 Fintech Growth Programme for promising scaleups

Tech Nation, the leading scaleup-network for UK entrepreneurs, is calling for applicants for its 2019 Fintech Growth Programme. The Programme is delivered as part of HM Treasury's Fintech Sector Strategy.

Supported by fintech market leaders including Al Lukies and David Duffy of the Fintech Alliance, a new online portal for the global FinTech community aiming to connect the UK to the world-wide FinTech ecosystem, the leadership development programme is specifically designed to connect and create opportunities for the founders of the UK’s most promising fintech scaleups.

The programme’s five-month schedule puts leading fintech CEOs through nine themed insights sessions, delivered by some of the most established fintech entrepreneurs, covering topics such as regulation, partnering with established financial services firms and expanding internationally. The cohort will also attend networking events to meet key stakeholders and decision makers, and the programme will culminate with a three-day international showcase trip to the US.

25 companies will be selected by a panel of expert judges, including Eileen Burbidge, Partner at Passion Capital & Chair of Tech Nation; Anne Boden, CEO of Starling Bank; and Simon Taylor,  Co-Founder and Blockchain Practice Lead at 11:FS.

Though external funding is not a requirement, applying companies must be at a stage of development equivalent to seed or Series A, have a product in market used actively, and be headquartered in the UK. The programme is open to B2B companies, and for the first time this year Tech Nation is also accepting B2C companies onto the programme.

The 2019 programme is announced just weeks after the launch of the annual state-of-the-nation Tech Nation Report, which revealed that the UK is number one in the world for scaleup investment into fintech firms - generating £4.5bn in funding between 2015 and 2018.

The 2018 cohort of the Tech Nation Fintech Growth Programme contributed to this success, raising an average of £1.1m each last year. Of the 20 companies, 35% were based outside London, and 40% had a female founder or co-founder.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said: “The UK is number one in the world for scaleup investment into fintech firms, generating £4.5 billion in funding between 2015 and 2018. That’s why we are accelerating the development of this already thriving sector through the Fintech Sector Strategy, and the Tech Nation Growth Programme is an important part of that. The country is full of exciting new companies that can break the mould and make our financial sector even stronger, and I urge all of them to get involved in this year’s programme.”

Greg Michel, Tech Nation Fintech lead, added: “Tech Nation’s Fintech Programme identifies the rising stars in the industry and helps them scale to even greater horizons. The last cohort companies have closed multiple funding rounds, won prestigious awards, struck strategic partnerships and expanded abroad while on the programme. In 2019 we are looking to replicate this success by connecting and creating opportunities for the most promising fintech companies wherever they are based in the country so that they can compete on the global stage.”

Applicants can apply on the Tech Nation Website, at the following link: https://technation.io/fintech/

Applications open on the 5th June, and close on the 9th July. The application takes just 20 minutes to complete.