Scotland develops itself into a fintech epicentre receiving record levels of investment funding last year.
Although it has breathtaking natural landscapes, Scotland has also become synonymous with investment in its fintech landscape. Scotland’s prospering fintech sector has attracted significant investment funding and a growing community of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) firms.
According to FinTech Scotland, the independent not-for-profit cluster body, Scottish fintechs has received over £305million in funding over the course of the last year. This figure represents a 200 per cent increase iin the amount of funding receved by the community during the year previous.
Fintech SMEs with a specific focus on data and payment innovation raised around 60 per cent of 2022’s total funding.
Likewise, SMEs regarding wealth management and financial regulation solutions became major recipients of this funding.
Nicola Anderson, CEO, FinTech Scotland
In addition to this, Scotland’s community of fintech SMEs grew to 211 members last year. This includes a 13 per cent year-on-year increase driven by both new fintech start ups and international firms setting up in Scotland.
Reflecting on the figures, Nicola Anderson, FinTech Scotland chief executive, admits to being “continuously inspired by fintech entrepreneurs who accelerate innovation, change and growth.”
According to Anderson, the levels of investment seen in 2022 cements “the value of of fintech innovation, and propels us to continue driving cluster excellence, build on the recognition the we achieved in 2022 and the role we play in contributing to the growing wider UK fintech ecosystem.”
The year of Scottish fintech
As the industry rolls into 2023, Anderson confirms FinTech Scotland’s forthcoming collaboration with Scottish Enterprise, Innovate UK and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), among others, in execution of its research and innovation roadmap.
Adrian Gillespie, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, sees this collaborative attitude as the real driver of Scotland’s fintech sector.
“FinTech Scotland has made an enormous contribution to developing our country’s fintech sector since its inception,” comments Gillespie. “We look forward to continue working with FinTech Scotland to deliver economic opportunities in this vibrant sector.”
FinTech Scotland has confirmed for the coming year its strategy to continue leveraging cluster excellence credentials to drive innovation and build on the valuable collaboration with fintech centres around the UK.
This will also include a focus on supporting fintech SMEs scale-up through increased collaboration with the thirty FinTech Scotland partners as well as major economic initiatives with Smart Data Foundry and a new centre of excellence for innovation in financial regulation.
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