The FinTech Five – 10th March 2023
10 March, 2023
Welcome to the FinTech Five, where we take a fortnightly look at the best articles, news, insights and features from our FinTech Wales members.
1. Innovate Finance Publishes Women in FinTech Powerlist 2022
Earlier this week and coinciding with International Women’s Day, Innovate Finance published their Women In FinTech Powerlist 2022.
FinTech Wales would like to congratulate everyone who made the list!
We’re especially thrilled to see members of our FinTech Wales team and our members make the list:
Standout 45 list, Industry & Knowledge Champions list:
- Gemma Hallett, Head of Skills, FinTech Wales
Senior Leaders list:
- Sarah Williams-Gardener, CEO, FinTech Wales
- Louise O’Shea, Former CEO at Confused.com and Chair of FinTech Wales
- Shabnam Wazed, Founder and CEO of FinTech Wales Foundry alumni, AGAM
- Louise Brett, Vice Chair Deloitte UK and UK & NSE FinTech and FS Innovation Leader, Deloitte
Standout 45 list, Senior Leaders list:
- Anna Brailsford, CEO, Code First Girls
Rising Stars list:
- Rowan Whittington, Head of Product, Confused.com
Professional & Financial Services list:
- Fiona Ghosh, Partner, EY
Standout 45 list, Professional & Financial Services list:
- Tanya Thourani, FinTech Go-To-Market Manager, EY
Policymakers & Regulatory Experts list:
Read the full Women In Fintech Powerlist 2022 here.
2. Lloyds Banking Group Launches 2023 Innovation Programme
Next this week, FinTech Wales is delighted to support Lloyds Banking Group’s Launch Innovation Programme 2023; a 12 week collaborative Innovation programme offering rapid experimentation with access to subject matter experts and free business masterclasses.
There are Four strategic business Challenges that firms can enter:
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Curating targeted Financial Planning and Added Value Services that meet customer needs
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Harnessing Data to enrich Customer Relationships
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Providing the most Inclusive Colleague and Customer Experiences
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Exploring Sustainable choices for customers and IT Operations
Additionally, there is a ‘Wild Card’ category for propositions that firms think would benefit Lloyds Banking Group, but don’t fit with the above business challenges.
Click here to read more about the four innovation challenges FinTechs can enter and how to apply.
3. de Novo Solutions establishes new standard in Managed Cloud Support with launch of Value as a Service™ (VaaS™)
Next, Pioneering tech company, de Novo Solutions, has set a new benchmark in Managed Cloud Support with the launch of its next generation managed services offering, ‘Value as a Service™’ [VaaS™] for Oracle SaaS Cloud and ServiceNow applications.
de Novo Solutions is committed to ‘re-imagining the world of work’, having honed a niche in the experience economy undertaking digital transformation through the creation of personalised experiences over standardised processes for both public and private sector organisations.
Mark Sweeny, Founder and Chief Executive of de Novo Solutions, explained: “Cloud is constantly evolving and unfortunately many businesses fail to maximise their return on investment, as they do not take advantage of the innovation that is regularly delivered by their platform provider.
To overcome this, de Novo has revised the concept for cloud managed service support, focusing on value realisation over and above commercial innovation across the entire cloud contract. This means delivering a solution uniquely tailored to each client’s circumstance, while balancing support, innovation, and pragmatism to generate people-centric outcomes – meeting all stakeholder needs from leadership to end users.”
Click here to read more about the launch on de Novo’s website.
4. FinTechs in Wales Actively Seeking More Women in Tech
Next this week, FinTech Wales has partnered with Chwarae Teg, a Welsh charity supporting the economic development of women, and Code First Girls, a social enterprise that provides free coding courses to women and non-binary people across the UK, to support FinTech organisations in Wales who’re keen to diversify their workforce.
As a result of this partnership, FinTech Wales has been able to offer the Code First Girls Programme to their members looking to recruit female talent, and the collaboration between academia and industry will see 10 women go through a 14 week, fully-funded, academy to achieve micro-degrees in Software, Data or Full-stack.
Gemma Hallett, Head of Skills, at FinTech Wales said:
“We are so proud to be working with Chwarae Teg, Code First Girls and our members to attract and retain more women in tech. FinTechs including Wealthify, Delio, and Principality Building Society have already committed to the programme with some fantastic job offers to women who have recently started their micro-degrees, and I’m talking to more members everyday, including Hodge, Monmouthshire Building Society, Sero, Pepper Money, Go.Compare and Acquis Insurance, to name just a few, who have great career opportunities and are looking to further diversify their workforce.
“Collaboration is critical, and FinTech Wales is delighted to be able to make that significant link between individuals and leading FinTechs in Wales providing employment opportunities for this newly created / much needed talent.”
Click here to read more on Business News Wales’ website.
5. The British Business Bank is on course to launch a £130 million investment fund this autumn
Last but not least this week, The British Business Bank is on course to launch a £130 million investment fund this autumn, aimed at driving the growth of small and medium-sized businesses in Wales.
The Investment Fund for Wales is one of a series of Nations and Regions Investment Funds being launched by the British Business Bank which will deliver a £1.6 billion commitment of new funding to smaller businesses across the UK. The fund will offer a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment of up to £5 million.
Ken Cooper, Managing Director, Venture Solutions, at the British Business Bank, said:
“The new Investment Fund for Wales is designed to increase the supply and diversity of finance available to smaller businesses in Wales. Given the geographical spread of Wales’s smaller business population, connecting with entrepreneurs in some of the more rural and hard-to-reach areas will be an important focus of the fund.
Levels of equity investment and also private debt lending are currently below Wales’s share of the UK’s small business population, so we’ll be working closely with the local finance ecosystem to ensure the fund provides support to innovative, ambitious business owners across the country.”
Until Next Time
And that’s it for the FinTech Five this week. Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to join us fortnightly for more of the best content from across our FinTech Wales membership.