This increase continues the momentum from the start of the year when it was announced that the number of firms had trebled to 75 over the twelve months since the formation of FinTech Scotland at the beginning of 2018.
The growth in the number of fintech firms in the community continues to be fuelled by a combination of new enterprises being created, international firms moving to Scotland and existing technology firms developing new fintech propositions.
The 100 Scottish FinTech firms
The announcement comes on a day when the Public Finance and Digital Economy Minister Kate Forbes welcomed some of the newest firms to the FinTech community to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood.
This was an opportunity for the Minister to hear from a range of diverse and exciting new enterprises and their entrepreneurs including MoneyMatix, Xpand Access, CU Apps, Zortrex, Women’s Coin .
Additionally, Amiqus the recent winner at EIE19, Scotland’s main showcase event for firms looking for investment, joined the group to share how they are building on their initial growth. EIE this year saw fintech firms being the largest sector represented further demonstrating the growth in the sector.
Image: Public Finance and Digital Economy Minister Kate Forbes with some of the firms from the Scottish fintech community and the teams at FinTech Scotland and Scottish Enterprise.
FinTech Scotland has also announced that Scotland’s International Fintech Festival will take place over three weeks between the 9th and the 27th of September, following on the success of last year’s community led Festival.
The Festival will take place across the breadth of the country, including seven Scottish cities and will see over 50 events with many being joined by international guests from around the world, further reflecting Scotland’s growing reputation as a global fintech nation.
Following the announcement Minister Kate Forbes said:
“Scotland has the fundamental strengths to be globally recognised as a centre of FinTech excellence. Our economy is open and competitive, we have a highly skilled workforce, a great quality of life and an attractive cost base compared to other financial centres.
“Working with FinTech Scotland and its partners, we have seen real growth in the sector in Scotland, and I am pleased to celebrate the milestone of our first 100 FinTech companies. This is just the beginning, and I am confident that we will see continued growth.”
David Ferguson, CEO of AIM listed fintech Nucleus Financials added:
“These are becoming very exciting times for Fintech in Scotland and it’s hugely inspiring to see so many companies contributing to the tech-led reinvention of financial services. It’s also brilliant to see Stephen and his Fintech Scotland team doing such a great job in supporting and helping to drive this growth.”
Commenting on the latest progress, Stephen Ingledew, chief executive of FinTech Scotland said:
“We continue to be focused on supporting the dynamic and expanding fintech community across Scotland and it is encouraging to see the number of enterprises grow with the support of key partners, universities and Scottish Government.
“Scotland’s fintech community is continuing to attract growing interest from international investors as well as the established financial services sector who recognise the significant value in collaborating with creative forward-thinking enterprises.”
Linda Hanna, Managing Director for Scottish Economic Development at Scottish Enterprise, said:
“The vibrant fintech sector in Scotland keeps going from strength to strength - and its growth isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. As Scotland’s national economic development agency, we are keen to continue to build on this success, creating the ideal environment for these new and scaling businesses to thrive, and cementing Scotland’s place as a global fintech hub.”
About FinTech Scotland:
Fintech Scotland has been established by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, the financial services sector and University of Edinburgh to ensure that Scotland seizes the fintech opportunity and achieves critical mass in the sector by encouraging financial innovation, collaboration and inclusion as part of the country’s broader digital economy objectives.
The founding partners were the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, The University of Edinburgh, HSBC, Avaloq and Lloyds Banking Group. FinTech Scotland’s strategic partners are IBM, Deloitte, Equifax, Pinsent Masons, Sopra Steria, Dentsu Aegis Network and the Prudential.
FinTech Scotland acts as a strategic enabler focused on leveraging the potential economic (i.e. productivity, business creation) and social (i.e. access to financial products and employment) benefits arising from becoming a leading global centre focused on data driven fintech innovation.
Media Contact: Mickael Paris – Marketing Director – mickael.paris@fintechscotland.com
@FinTech Scotland
www.fintechscotland.com