FinTech Friday is our regular check-in here at Spreckley, where we share all the most interesting and useful financial services and financial technology news, innovations and trends.
This week, we look at the most promising new FinTechs to watch out for in 2021, the top London-based FinTechs to work for right now and why London is still Europe’s capital for investments in financial technology innovation.
FinTechs to watch in 2021
Sifted.eu asked a number of leading fintech founders to nominate the financial tech startups that they are most excited about for 2021.
“World-class founders aren’t just experts in their own companies. They are also generally credible sources of expertise about their sector and their peers.
“In this vein, we asked seven of Europe’s top fintech founders (and one from the US) to nominate early-stage startups they’re watching closely this year.
“The idea is to help bring promising startups out from under the radar, as is tradition at Sifted, and to identify the next batch of fintech leaders across Europe and beyond.”
Top London startups to work for in 2021
City AM runs its own fintech list feature this week, listing the best London-based financial tech startups to work for right now.
“Some 50 startups and scaleups appear on Otta’s Rocket List, which has been curated by Tech Nation and a handful of VC firms including Atomico and Seedcamp.
“The experts considered a firm’s level of investment, the number of jobs available and their “corporate mission”. Collectively the firms have raised more than £2.1bn in investment and posted over 2,500 jobs in the past year.
“Nearly half of the list are fintechs, including Revolut and Checkout.com which are hiring for the most roles – 79 and 68 respectively – with the neobank appearing on the list three years in a row.”
London still Europe’s fintech capital
Finally this week, The Telegraph notes that, even post-Brexit, London is still Europe’s fintech capital.
Large investments in some of the world’s most innovative fintech start-ups have ensured that the UK continues to lead the way for fintech innovation in Europe.
“Investments in leading banking start-ups including Monzo and Revolut ensured the UK stayed ahead of Germany, France and others, the report from trade body Innovate Finance found,” the report notes.
“UK companies raised more money than deals in Germany, Sweden, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands combined.
“A total of $4.1bn was invested in UK start-ups across 408 deals, 9pc lower than the total in 2019. But the high investment figure is second only to the US in a global league table of financial technology investment.”