Big Banks and Tech Giants Unite to Supercharge Fintech Growth in UK
The UK has set up a special way to invest in growing fintech companies until they can become public businesses. This is done to make the UK look better as a place to invest in fintech companies from around the world.
Companies like Mastercard, Barclays, and the London Stock Exchange Group are supporting this plan. They want to invest between £10 million and £100 million in fintech companies. These can be companies that help with things like online banking, payments, and new financial technology.
The special fund is managed by a bank called Peel Hunt. It wants to help companies that are growing and need more money, usually around their third funding round or more.
This special plan came about after someone named Ron Kalifa looked into whether the UK is good for tech companies to become public. Some people thought it was not very attractive for tech companies, so the government wanted to fix that.
This is a rare thing because big players in the financial industry are coming together to support this special fund. Although there are other funds for fintech companies, they usually don’t come from the government.
Some people have said that the UK makes it hard for fintech companies, so they have to go to other countries to become public. This has been a concern after the UK left the European Union, which caused some problems for the UK’s financial status.
The London Stock Exchange is trying to make it easier for fintech companies to become public in the UK. They want to stop companies from going to the US instead. This is important because one big company, Arm, chose New York over London.
A former finance minister named Philip Hammond is also helping with this plan. This could be a way for big financial companies to learn about new technologies. They want to stay competitive with younger tech companies.
Fintech companies are having a tough time right now because of rising prices and other economic problems. Some companies’ values have gone down a lot recently.
For example, a company called Checkout.com lost a lot of its value. Another company, Revolut, also saw its value drop. Even a bank called Atom Bank lost value. Overall, investment in UK fintech has gone down a lot this year.