FinTech Disruptors

Jul
03

One of the world’s fastest growing fintech platforms started as a side project — now it’s coming to the UK

A German fintech business backed by Silicon Valley VC Peter Thiel is planning to launch its investment platform in the UK. Max von Bismarck, Chief Business Officer and Managing Director of Deposit Solutions, told Business Insider at the Money2020 conference in Copenhagen this week that the company plans to launch its Zinspilot platform in Britain later this year. The Hamburg-based startup, founded in 2011, currently has one person based in London and is looking to scale-up UK operations. Von Bismarck said Zinspilot will also likely be re-branded for the British market. Zinspilot is a platform that lets people invest in savings products from a variety of banks across Europe using […]

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Investors are preparing to give fintech app Revolut £50 million even though it’s bleeding money

Fast-growing fintech app Revolut is close to sealing a £50 million funding round that will value the nascent company at £300 million, Sky News reports. London VC Index Ventures, already an investor in Revolut, is leading the round, Sky says. Silicon Valley investor Ribbit Capital is also said to be taking part in the round. CEO and founder Nikolay Storonsky told TechCrunch earlier this month that the company was close to “large equity round.” London-based Revolut offers a pre-paid international currency card, initially offering zero-fee, zero-commission foreign exchange. Cash is pre-loaded to the card through an app. The big round and chunky valuation are eye-catching for a number of reasons. […]

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Jun
30

InvestCloud to launch London FinTech incubator

InvestCloud Inc., a global FinTech firm, is set to launch a financial technology incubator and accelerator at its European headquarters in Soho, London. InvestCloud Innovation Center London will offer both new startups and established financial firms the ability to quickly deliver digital wealth management solutions supported by the InvestCloud platform. Deputy Mayor of London for Business, Rajesh Agrawal, has praised the move by InvestCloud to establish its latest financial technology incubator in London. The Mayor’s business chief spoke at Innovate to the future – a view from London, an event jointly hosted by the British-American Business Council Los Angeles and InvestCloud on Friday, June 23 in InvestCloud’s Los Angeles Innovation […]

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Jun
28

Britain leading the way in fintech adoption, report shows

Britain is leading the way in fintech adoption in the developed market, according to a new report from professional services and Big Four firm EY. EY’s fintech adoption index showed that 42 per cent of consumers in the UK are now using fintech services. However, there has been growth worldwide when it comes to the adoption of financial technology, with usage rates being high in emerging markets such as South Africa, China, India, Brazil and Mexico. Highest Emerging markets topped the fintech adoption index, with China having the highest adoption rate at 69 per cent, followed by India at 52 per cent. The report, which was based on findings from […]

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Jun
12

Bitcoin price crosses $3,000 milestone to set new all-time high

The price of bitcoin topped $3,000 for the first time in history today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). After spending much of the last week seeking direction in the $2,700 to $2,900-range, the average price of bitcoin across major international exchanges edged up over this threshold finally at roughly 17:00 UTC. The new record comes at a time when alternative digital assets are seeing robust inflows, with ethereum’s ether token setting a new all-time high of more than $300 today as well. Indeed, analysts spoke to the ongoing broadening of the cryptocurrency market as a tide that is benefitting bitcoin. “The inflows into ‘alts’ are greater than […]

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Jun
08

Here is the FinTech50 2017

2017’s full FinTech50 list, in alphabetical order: ·         Action.ai (London, UK) ·         Advice Robo (Amsterdam, Netherlands) ·         Aire (London, UK) ·         Algomi (London, UK) ·         AQMetrics (Kildare, Ireland) ·         Atom Bank (London, UK) ·         Azimo (London, UK) ·         Behaviosec (Stockholm, Sweden) ·         Bonify (Berlin, Germany) ·         Clearmatics (London, UK) ·         Clearscore (London, UK) ·         ComplyAdvantage (London, UK) ·         Contego (London, UK) ·         Credit Benchmark (London, UK) ·         Curve (London, UK) ·         Cuvva (Scotland, UK) ·         DarkTrace (Cambridge, UK) ·         Digital Shadows (London, UK) ·         Ethereum (worldwide) ·         FeatureSpace (London, UK) ·         Fenergo (Dublin, Ireland) ·         Figo (Hamburg, Germany) ·         FundApps (London, UK) ·         Iwoca (London, UK) ·         Kantox […]

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Jun
08

UK dominates FinTech50 list of innovative financial technology firms

British FinTech firms have dominated this year’s FinTech50, a list of Europe’s most innovative financial technology companies. Some 33 of this year’s top 50 firms are based in London, cementing the UK’s position as the leader in European FinTech. The list is compiled by a panel of “industry experts” – including venture capital investors, startup founders, and European politicians – and aims to recognise firms that are “transforming financial services” at all stages of growth. 11 UK tech entrepreneurs make it on to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 listBritish firms included on the list include challenger banks Atom Bank and Monzo, InsurTech app Cuvva, and investment app LendInvest. This year’s list […]

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Peer-to-peer lending giant Zopa confirms £32m fundraise

Zopa scoops £32m in a new investment round led by Indian conglomerate Wadhawan Group, as it looks ahead to bank-build. Zopa, the UK’s original peer-to-peer lending platform, has clinched £32m in its first investment round since early 2014, when it raised £15m from Arrowgrass Capital Partners. The money will be used to help build-out the firm’s technology and product range in preparation for the submission of its banking licence application later this year. The investment round has been led by India’s Wadhawan Global Capital Pvt Ltd and European venture capital fund Northzone. Northzone is also an investor in leading invoice finance platform MarketInvoice. Zopa co-founder Giles Andrews currently serves and […]

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