financial technology services in uk

Financial Services Startup Bootcamp

The FinTech sector is not immune to changes in broader market sentiment or geo-politics – and 2016 was a year of unusual volatility. Eurozone anxiety is set to continue with elections in many countries looming large in 2017.

In fact, investment in FinTech globally held up remarkably well during 2016. Innovate Finance data suggests there was $17.4bn worth of VC investment worldwide over the course of the year, a 10.9% increase compared to 2015. However, in the UK there was a different story to tell, as deal value drastically decreased by 33.7% to a total of $783m.

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UK Fintech Revolution

According to the report by  Vacancy Soft over the last five years, the rise of fintech has had a profound impact on the UK banking sector. So much so that traditional banks increasingly see their core revenue streams coming under attack. Privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion – known as the ‘fintech unicorns’ – are spearheading innovation, successfully digitising payments, peer-to-peer (P2P) finance and fund transfer processes. As a result, incumbents in the banking sector find they are having to adapt to this wave of innovation to compete with the likes of Funding Circle, Transferwise and Revolut.

This wave of disruption would not have been possible without the influence of Venture Capital (VC) firms’ investment. The fintech unicorns have had to raise significant capital in order to get to a place where they can compete. It is now clear that they are here to stay and London remains at the forefront of the fintech.

Click here to download the full report.