The FinTech Five – 12th November 2021
12 November, 2021
Welcome to the FinTech Five, the part of the week where we take a closer look at the best articles, news, and features from over the past week from our FinTech Wales members.
1. New partnership between Ship Shape and UWTSD to help student and graduate start-ups attract investment
First this week, a new collaborative partnership between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) and Ship Shape, to help Universities and industry to identify potential Venture Capital investors, has been announced during Global Entrepreneurship Week. (GEW)
The university is committed to developing the entrepreneurial and creative skills of its students and graduates as a key planning principle and such skills are embedded in our programmes.
Universities are key to a thriving economy as we emerge from the coronavirus pandemic. UWTSD encourages the development of new inventions and knowledge, to add commercial, social, and cultural value to society. To further develop our ability to be a dynamic force within the Welsh (and beyond) eco-system, UWTSD has invested in Ship Shape, whose search tool finds funders for business founders. It is a clear need, and the expertise will extend our offer significantly to our students and graduates.
Dr Kathryn Penaluna, Associate Professor in Enterprise Education at UWTSD said:
“We’re delighted to announce our partnership with Ship Shape to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week. Many great ideas are generated within our educational institutions and we’re ambitious that West and South Wales becomes an engine of Innovation centred around UWTSD.”
Co-founder and CEO of Ship Shape Daniel Sawko said:
“Empowering innovation has never been more important to our future and yet many potentially ground-breaking solutions still can’t find the right investors in Venture Capital to help them grow. The strategic partnership with UWTSD is a real statement of intent from both of us. We’re ambitious about unlocking and commercialising brilliant ideas all around the world, which could go much further with better access to the relevant Venture Capital investors.”
Read the full announcement on the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) website here.
2. Delio to power private markets offering of leading Japanese bank
Next, Delio has been selected by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank (SMTB) as the provider of a new digital platform that will accelerate the promotion and distribution of private market investment opportunities to the bank’s high-net-worth (HNW) and institutional clients. The platform launch marks the start of a strategic partnership between Delio and SMTB and is a significant milestone in the bank’s strategy to offer its clients greater access to private markets.
The launch of the platform comes as many industry commentators predict that Asia will become a global force in the private markets space over the next decade.
The Delio-powered private markets platform will play a key role in enabling SMTB’s clients to digitally access the latest investment opportunities at their convenience, explore information about the deals on offer, and begin the transaction process should they wish to invest. In addition to digitising the user experience, SMTB will also use the platform to quicken internal processes while generating additional client insights, which will enable greater personalisation of the services they offer in the future. Kazuhiro Hara, General Manager of Asian Business Promotion at SMTB, said:
“The launch of our first digital platform specifically for private markets investments demonstrates our commitment to technological innovation and will greatly enhance how we deliver products and services to our clients. When combined with their growing interest in the exciting investment opportunities offered by private markets, we are confident that the platform will offer significant value for our clients in the coming years.”
Gareth Lewis, chief executive and co-founder of Delio, said:
“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the team at SMTB and take this first step in what promises to be a highly successful, long-term relationship.
“SMTB’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge technology and enhancing their clients’ experience comes at a very exciting time for private markets in Asia and we look forward to evolving their private markets expansion strategy together. As one of the region’s most prominent and respected banks, their selection of Delio’s technology is another strong validation of our platform’s value to large financial institutions that want to scale and widen access when distributing private markets investments.”
Read the full announcement on Delio’s website here.
3. Principality introduces climate awareness training for all colleagues
Next this week, Principality Building Society is introducing climate awareness training for every colleague as part of its commitment to be a more environmentally friendly organisation.
The training allows individuals to understand what climate change is, what causes it and lifestyle changes that could be made to help support the environment, covering the topics of food, home, purchases and travel. The training, delivered over two workshops and an assessment, also discusses climate justice and organisational, community and society wide change to stop the effects of climate change.
The news comes as Wales’ largest building society has recently announced its commitment to be carbon zero as an organisation by 2030, following a partnership with environmental experts ClimatePartner UK, who will support Principality in how the organisation measures, reduces and offsets its carbon footprint both now and in the coming years.
Julie-Ann Haines, Chief Executive Officer, Principality Building Society said:
‘‘We’re proud to be launching the climate awareness training for colleagues as it has been both developed and implemented by our Environmental Champions network, a group of colleagues across the business who are passionate about supporting the environment in Wales and the wider world. For the past six months, our colleagues have been designing, trialling and gathering feedback on the training to ensure its success across the business.
‘’It’s really important that we take action to become a more environmentally sustainable business for our members, colleagues, communities and the wider society. We switched to using renewable energy in our offices a few years ago, and our flexible working policy will see colleagues being given the option of whether they return to office in 2022, which should reduce our greenhouse gases through employee commuting even further. These will be the first of many changes in ensuring we achieve our commitment to be carbon neutral in 2022 and net zero by 2030.’’
Read the full announcement on Principality’s website here.
4. Xantos Labs offers investment opportunities to a global audience through partnership with Currencycloud
Next, Xantos Labs, the investment adviser for everyday folks, has announced its plans for international expansion following its partnership with Currencycloud, the experts simplifying business in a multi-currency world.
For several years Xantos Labs has been offering its transparent and pragmatic investment advice to everyday folks in the US who want to invest in US securities but have found offering its services to an international audience difficult. Each territory had specific solutions for their regions, but no one provider could offer the global coverage of Currencycloud.
Chuk Orakwue, Managing Partner at Xantos Labs, commented:
“We looked at our competitors and realized that we could exercise a first market mover advantage if we were willing to jump into international markets. As we were evaluating different partners that could help us make this happen, Currencycloud stuck out as a particularly capable platform. We knew we could work together on delivering extremely high-quality investment advisory services to the world.”
David Heitzmann, Vice President Sales & General Manager, North America at Currencycloud, commented:
“When we were talking with the team at Xantos Labs about their ambitions for global expansion, it soon became apparent that we could provide a solution that would support them in all their target territories. We look forward to working with them as a result of this partnership.”
Everyday investors around the world can now take advantage of Xantos Labs’ advice and investment platform with immediate effect.
Read the full announcement on Currencycloud’s website here.
5. Confused.com COO, Steve Dukes to speak alongside a panel of experts for the Insurance Post.
Last but not least this week, Confused.com’s COO, Steve Dukes is set to discuss the importance of aligning digital and data when transformation projects, alongside a panel of experts for the Insurance Post on Tuesday the 16th November.
The event, titled ‘Don’t forget the date – why digital transformation alone won’t help you improve your CX’ will cover the following:
- What data do new digital experiences need to incorporate in order to delight customers and meet expectations?
- How are insurance businesses looking to refine these user journeys based on the new data gathered?
- What silos need to be bridges to make sure that data and digital transformations are done hand-in-hand; and what should be prioritised to make sure that any digital investment is not wasted?
- What are the benefits of a holistic approach that delivers predictive outcomes?
- What does success look like in terms of data transformation and the key drivers behind such projects. I.e whether it is constructive (adding, copying, and replicating data,) destructive (deleting fields) or aesthetic (standardising fields).
- How do you qualify/quantify the success of both data and digital transformations?
Register to participate in the INsurance Post’s insightful and interactive webinar here
Until Next Week
And that’s it for the FinTech Five this week. Thank you for reading, and don’t forget to join us next week for more of the best content from across our FinTech Wales membership.