Plato Partnership announced today that it will be extending sponsorship for a further three annual London-based AIR Summit events.

Initially launched in 2014 in the United States, AIR Summit provides a forum for up-and-coming fintech firms to connect and demonstrate their products to investment managers, traders and other market participants. AIR Summit - London 1.0, sponsored by Plato Partnership, was the first AIR Summit event that took place outside of the US.

This sponsorship will enable AIR Summit to run annual events in London as well as New York moving forward. Their next event, AIR Summit 5.0, will be held in New York City on September 18-19.

Unlike other fintech and trade-tech conferences, AIR Summit events focus exclusively on Alphatech - technologies that harness cutting-edge algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence to assess, predict and improve an investment portfolio’s success.

In 2020 and beyond, AIR Summit - London will also invite companies that have presented in New York in a bid to encourage a transatlantic discussion around the world of Alpha. To date, 85 companies have presented to the world’s top mutual funds, ETF providers, hedge funds, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds at AIR Summit events in the US and UK.

Since inception, over US$1.7 billion in fresh capital has been invested in companies following participation at an AIR Summit event and a further 13 have been acquired for over $7 billion.

Bill Stephenson, founder of AIR Summit said: “Last year’s AIR Summit – London 1.0 was a fantastic success. The tried and tested format from the US translated well in the UK, and we received excellent feedback from presenting companies and attendees alike.

We are delighted to see the appetite for an event focused on the future of Alpha continue to grow, and we are thrilled at the opportunity to continue providing the forum for these crucial discussions. Next year’s AIR Summit – London 2.0 will build on 2019’s success and provide an even bigger and better platform on which to discuss Alpha.”

Mike Bellaro, CEO of Plato Partnership said: “We believe that discussing and developing technology around alpha is, and will continue to be, essential to the enduring success of the equities marketplace in Europe and beyond. We are proud to be supporting the growth of AIR Summit as it moves from strength to strength.

We started Plato with a clear mission statement: to give something back to the marketplace and improve the market for end investors. Our support for the AIR Summit is a huge step forward in realising this mission.”

Carrie Jaquith, VP and Digital Product Manager at Lazard Frères & Co. said: “AIR London was an incredible  opportunity to speak to leaders in fintech’s Alphatech space. The insights surfaced onstage and in the audience around innovative technology in the investment management process left me inspired and informed.

Bill and Morgan are unique in their ability to curate events focused on this critical area of fintech and offer strategic takeaways across near and long term horizons.”

Henrik Grunditz, Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer at Hivemind and presenter at last year’s AIR Summit – London 1.0 said: “AIR Summit is an excellent platform for us at Hivemind to interact with industry leaders. The unique format of compact presentations followed by roundtable demonstrations allow us to not only tell, but also show what we are trying to achieve.”

“Demonstrating how our technology solves complicated data extraction, data enrichment, and data quality problems is always difficult to do in a fast-paced conference environment. AIR Summit offers ample opportunity for demonstration, and crucially ensures that you're spending that time with the right people - well informed prospects who are eager to know more about your product.”