London is home to more of the hottest fintech startups than ever before according to the Fintech50 2017
London’s status as the world leading centre of fintech has been questioned in the wake of Brexit, but new figures suggest the capital continues to be a global powerhouse for financial technology.
The city has produced more of the hottest fintech startups than ever before, with over half of the Fintech50 calling it home.
Challenger banks such as Monzo and Atom Bank made the list for the first time as did money management app Curve, blockchain startup SETL and proptech firm Trussle. They join the likes of Revolut and MarketInvoice, both of which have raised millions from investors in the last 12 months.
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Some 31 of the companies are from London, up from 29 last year and 24 in 2015. The annual list is decided by leaders across, technology, finance and the fintech world, including from Microsoft, Silicon Valley Bank, Index Ventures, Santander and Samsung.
London startups in the Fintech50
Action.ai, Aire, Algomi, Atom Bank, Azimo, Clearmatics, Clearscore, ComplyAdvantage, Contego, Credit Banchmark, Curve, Digital Shadows, Featurespace, FundApps, Iwoca, Kantox, LendInvest, MarketInvoice, Monzo, Onfido, OpenGamma, Privitar, Railsbank, Ratesetter, Revolut, Scalable Capital, Seedrs, SETL, Suade, Thought Machine, Trussle
Fintech50 startups from the rest of the UK and Europe
Advice Robo, AQMetrics, Behaviosec, Bonify, Cuvva, Darktrace, Ethereum, Fenergo, Figo, Mambu, Meniga, N26, NetGuardians, PayKey, Qumram, Raisin, Solaris Bank, Traxpay, WeFox
“FinTechs working with banks is a powerful trend, but there is also a new generation of innovators going direct to the consumer in areas such as insurance and financial management,” said Fintech50 founder Julie Lake.
“Noticeably this year, we saw an emerging evangelism for challenger brands from a very important source: their customers. They may not have (anywhere near) the customer volume of traditional providers, but they are winning hearts and minds in a style more often associated with consumer goods.”
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Another 10 startups – six of them from the UK – have been named to the Fintech50 hall of fame. They include Transferwise, Zopa, WorldRemit and Funding Circle.
And a further 10 have been identified as up-and-coming “ones to watch”, again with six of them coming from London: Bud, Cleo, Datasine, Post Quantum, 10xBanking, the fintech consultancy founded by former Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins, and ClearBank, the first new clearing bank set up in 250 years by WorldPay founder Nick Ogden.
The Fintech50 hall of fame
Adyen (Amsterdam)
Currencycloud (London)
eToro (Cyprus)
Funding Circle (London)
iZettle (Stockholm)
Klarna (Stocklholm)
Nutmeg (London)
Transferwise (London)
WorldRemit (London)
Zopa (London)
Fintech50 “hot ten”
Bud (London)
ClearBank (London)
Cleo (London)
Datasine (London)
Deposify (Dublin)
Governance.io (Luxembourg)
Meteo Project (Paris)
Nxchange (Amsterdam)
Post Quantum (London)
10xBanking (London)
Founder of fintech unicorn Transferwise Taavet Hinrikus warned in April that Brexit would make him chose another city if her were setting up today because of Brexit. It came at the same time chancellor Philip Hammond signalled support for fintech remained strong in the government.
Early figures for the first part of the year indicate cash being invested in UK fintech rebounded from a poor end to 2016, with large rounds of funding for Funding Circle, Monzo and Currencycloud. But entrepreneurs have raised concerns over Conservatives’ plans to increase red tape when it comes to hiring talent from abroad.