Finnovating has unveiled MatchGPT®, the world's first Match Generative Pre-Trained Transformer focused on connecting tech companies to accelerate B2B business and collaborations for technology and innovation. It has been developed using OpenAI and AI-owned algorithms and fuelled by exclusive data from the Finnovating Platform, an AI-Deal Matching Platform for Tech Companies. The highly anticipated launch took place at the AIM Congress in Abu Dhabi, with the support of the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology.

Addressing a major challenge for tech companies

With B2B companies spending an average of 10% of annual revenues on business development and 4% on IT solutions, falling Returns on Advertisement and Investment Ratios has become a pressing concern for many companies. To tackle this issue, Finnovating launched the first B2B Matching Platform 18 months ago, with the goal of facilitating business and innovation between corporations and tech start-ups.

A solid foundation for AI technologies

Since its inception, the Finnovating platform has collected over 20 million interactions among 100,000 tech companies, providing the perfect foundation for training cutting-edge GPT AI technologies. The result of this endeavour is MatchGPT®, a groundbreaking AI-driven solution for matching tech companies and fostering innovation.

Key distinctions between MatchGPT® and ChatGPT

Rodrigo García de la Cruz, Finnovating's CEO and founder, emphasizes the differences between MatchGPT (called also Conrad) and ChatGPT, clarifying that MatchGPT® was not developed from GPT-3.5 or GPT-4. The primary differences include:

Focus: MatchGPT® is designed for B2B matchings and interactions, catering to companies interested in technology, innovation, and business; it is also used by Governments to attract and engage with tech communities over the world.  ChatGPT, however, is a generic B2C solution for a broader user base.

Objective: MatchGPT® serves as an intelligent assistant to match, connect, and facilitate transactions, effectively reducing the gap between companies worldwide. ChatGPT, on the other hand, functions primarily as a conversational chatbot without matching and transactional features.

Construction: MatchGPT® is built on proprietary behavioural and transactional data from Finnovating's platform, which boasts over 20 million interactions between 100,000 tech companies from more than 125 countries. In contrast, ChatGPT relies on more generic information extracted from the web.

Personalized Results: MatchGPT® delivers tailored results to registered users of the Finnovating Platform which intends to trigger a match and business with the right client/partner, while ChatGPT provides identical responses to all users, regardless of their background.

How can GPT help you?

The possibilities with Conrad are virtually limitless. A few examples might be: identify the leading 7 B2B fintech companies utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning in France, learn how to expand your fintech business to the United Arab Emirates, discover key connections in Mexico to scale your insurtech, find the top investors seeking Series A B2E businesses in Singapore, or explore lucrative business opportunities in the US healthtech industry.

A new era of B2B GPT solutions

García de la Cruz emphasizes, “By combining the essential elements of OpenAI and our AI-owned algorithms with our proprietary and exclusive data, we have achieved extraordinary results in a short time. Our dream that every tech company can do more business in one click is becoming a reality as we now have the capacity to assist thousands of companies in identifying their clients, partners, and investors in a single platform in one click. This is made possible not only through NLP (natural language processing) but also due to the advanced intelligence of Conrad. I firmly believe that this marks the onset of a new era in B2B GPT solutions.”

PayPoint has announced a new partnership with Children with Cancer UK, a leading charity dedicated to the fight against childhood cancer.

The two-year collaboration will see PayPoint shift its fundraising focus towards the charity and support events such as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September. In addition, the retail services and technology provider has formed a team of employees to take part in this year’s London Marathon to raise awareness and funds for the charity.

PayPoint’s partnership with Children with Cancer UK will help to fund research projects that increase understanding of childhood cancer and improve treatments. The pioneering programs are dedicated to unlocking kinder treatments for children; tailored to childhood cancers, so the youngest, most vulnerable patients are spared the drugs and procedures developed for adults. Their vision is a world where every child survives cancer.

Nick Wiles, Chief Executive at PayPoint, said: “We’re proud to be partnering with Children with Cancer UK, a charity that plays a crucial role in the fight against childhood cancer.

“We hope that any funds raised through our partnership will support children with cancer and their families, and make a meaningful difference for those in need.”

Jo Elvin, CEO, Children with Cancer UK, said: “We are delighted to be PayPoint’s chosen charity.  We’re incredibly touched by the company’s clear passion for engaging with our cause, and excited for what promises to be two years of meaningful and impactful collaborations.”

Deposits have the greatest impact on the profitability of P2P lending. At the same time, the market reacts most quickly to the dynamics of high-risk investments.

Analysts of the Robocash platform studied 6 investment assets to find a correlation between their returns and the P2P market dynamics. The specialists evaluated the behaviour of assets through the Granger test*.

The test results show that bank deposits influence the change in P2P yield more than others over a six-month period. “To develop their business, P2P lending platforms often resort to bank loans for additional funds. If the key interest rate rises, then borrowed money becomes more expensive. To remain financially sound, a P2P platform needs to increase its rates too in the short term to avoid unbalancing its debt structure.” - experts comment on the results.

Assets such as currency or gold also have an impact on the dynamics of P2P investments, but to a lesser extent. The higher their potential yield, the lower P2P returns, but the effect of influence is estimated at 15 months or more.

At the same time, riskier assets cause a faster P2P economy reaction. Cryptocurrency has an impact on P2P dynamics after a month. “The drop in cryptocurrency yields can provide the market with an influx of “risky” investors. When withdrawing money from digital currency for any reason, investors are more likely to prefer another high yield instrument such as P2P or stocks.” - add specialists.

GTreasury, a treasury, payments, and risk management software provider, today announces that it has secured a majority investment from Hg, a leading investor in global software and services companies. As part of the transaction, the GTreasury management team and former majority owner, Mainsail Partners, will continue as investors in the business.

Based in Chicago, Illinois, GTreasury is a global leader in treasury management systems (TMS) for organizations worldwide. GTreasury’s SaaS solutions assist treasury departments to effectively manage liquidity needs, payment execution, bank relationships, FX hedging, and auditing and compliance requirements. GTreasury provides these practitioners with real-time insight and access into their global liquidity needs, serving over 700 customers across 30 industries in over 160 countries.

Renaat Ver Eecke, CEO of GTreasury, said: “This is a great moment for the team at GTreasury as it will support further product development and geographic expansion, helping us to continue innovating and bringing new products and features to an ever-growing customer base. Hg’s global software specialization and deep knowledge in this area will help accelerate this strategy significantly.”

Hg’s investment and support will enable GTreasury to continue its rapid growth as a highly strategic platform in the TMS segment, with scope to drive further operational improvements, invest in more product development, and continue its global expansion plans—including Asia Pacific regions and in Europe, where Hg has a deep network and 30-year heritage. Hg has invested around $9 billion in the wider tax and accounting software segment across Europe and North America over the last 19 years, with an increasing focus on software serving the ‘Office of the CFO’.

Ben Meyer, Partner at Hg, said: “Renaat leads an impressive team in a high-quality business, providing a leading solution in what is a fast-growing segment. We are excited to partner with Renaat and his team, and to work together with Mainsail, to support them in further scaling GTreasury as a TMS industry champion.”

Louis Kinsella, Director at Hg, said: “TMS software is becoming an increasingly critical segment within the office of the CFO, with companies continuing to focus on their cash and liquidity visibility and needs. This is a really long-term trend, and we’re delighted to be backing a great business and team which is at the forefront of this sector.”

“Partnering with Renaat and the rest of the GTreasury team over the past five years to build a leading treasury management platform has been very rewarding,” said Vinay Kashyap, Partner at Mainsail Partners. “We believe the company is well positioned and are excited to continue our partnership along with management and the team at Hg.”

Terms of the transaction are not disclosed. Hg was advised by William Blair & Company, Skadden & Arps, Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, EY and McKinsey. GTreasury and Mainsail were advised by Guggenheim Securities and Wilson Sonsini.

Gen Alpha are making money online, going cashless and giving more to charity than ever before, according to research from GoHenry, the prepaid debit card and financial education app for kids aged 6-18. 

The insights into young people's financial habits - gathered from more than 435,000 UK GoHenry customers and samples of over 2,000 young people aged 6-18 - indicate that this age group are more assertive than previous generations when it comes to their money, proactively earning it from a young age and making more conscientious spending decisions.

Entrepreneurial kids are making money by gaming and selling clothes online over babysitting and dog walking. In fact, a quarter of kids and teens (25%) are now earning from selling items on online marketplaces such as Etsy, Ebay, Depop and Vinted with an average monthly 'wage' of £7.34. Nearly one in five (18%) kids are earning money from gaming and more than a quarter (26%) aim to become entrepreneurs when they are older¹.

This is a generation of savvy savers, with data showing that monthly savings for GoHenry kids increased by 14% in 2022 (from £14.67 in the first half of 2021 to £16.75 during the same period of 2022). Whilst they are watching the pennies, they are still willing to help others in need, with the number of kids giving to charity increasing by 256% in 2022. This resulted in the total amount donated increasing from £120,000 in H1 2021, to £435,000 in H1 2022².

When it comes to spending, as well as being the first digital natives, this generation is likely to be the first cashless natives too, with only 10% of 6-18 year-olds’ spending in cash. Gen Alpha kids are shopping more sustainably, with the average spend on Depop having risen by 114%, despite a decline in the amount spent on fashion generally². GoHenry data from the first half of 2021 vs the same period in 2022 also shows children spent less on “non-essential” items like toys (-32%), fashion (-14%) and gaming (-11%)².

Commenting on Gen Alpha’s money habits, Louise Hill, COO and co-founder of GoHenry said: “Even though they have only been around since 2010, Gen Alpha are proving to be shrewd when it comes to their finances, earning their own money through less traditional means and thinking carefully not only about what they buy but also where they buy from. With the eldest of this generation now entering their teens, we can expect an exciting few years ahead as they use their money skills to make their mark on the world. In fact, many adults could take a leaf out of their book when it comes to earning, saving, spending and giving responsibly!”

Audiencerate, the identity hub enabling data-driven advertising, today announced its expansion into the finance industry. It has been selected to enhance the management and activation of first-party data across digital marketing for its leading European paytech client, Nexi. 

Nexi offers a wide range of payment services to both consumers and businesses, which are fast, simple and secure. By utilising Audiencerate’s new customer data platform (CDP), Nexi will automate and enhance its digital marketing campaigns. Employing streamlined first-party data to deliver consistent and measurable communication with new and existing customers, the CDP will help to support business development and growth.    

Stefano Gatti, Head of Data & Analytics at Nexi, said: “We wanted to take a more thoughtful, smart and efficient approach to our digital marketing. The Audiencerate CDP offers an easy-to-use, data-led automated and secure solution – and we can’t wait to see the results it delivers to help us connect better with customers and grow our business.”

Enrico Vecchio, CTO and Founder at Audiencerate, said: “Audiencerate's CDP provides an intuitive user experience while harnessing the power of cloud technology. Our platform is the next-generation data lake for marketing to help businesses achieve unparalleled efficiency and efficacy in their marketing efforts. We have taken a significant step forward in empowering marketers to unlock the full potential of their data, and I am excited to see the transformative impact it will also have in the fintech space.”

Filippo Gramigna, CEO at Audiencerate, said: “We’re proud to have the opportunity to support such an important player in fintech. The technology has been designed to the highest standards on privacy and security to manage and orchestrate all kinds of first-party data. Our strategy is to continue to innovate in this space in order to allow all business types to take full advantage of their data assets and keep consistent communication with their customers.”

As a first simple step for any business looking to remove the complexity from customer data management, Audiencerate’s affordable, accessible customer data platform connects and manages all first-party data to help plan and manage targeted digital advertising campaigns.

The CDP platform onboarding process is easy and intuitive with fast set-up and data onboarding, straightforward audience segmentation based on customer behaviour, and unique audience amplification tools to reach a larger pool of prospective customers. It is proprietary software with a privacy-by-design approach.

Privacy compliance is core to the Audiencerate platform which adheres to all local data protection and privacy regulations, including GDPR, CCPA & TCF 2.0. Data is encrypted across all stages of the journey.

Today Payhawk, the fast-growing spend management platform, which combines company cards, reimbursable expenses, and accounts payable in one solution, announces the ‘Finance 50’, the first project of its collaboration with UK Fast Growth 50.

The Fast Growth 50 index is an extensively researched league table of the fastest-growing companies, led by its founder, Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE. The aim is to identify 50 of the fastest-growing companies in each region and nation of the UK, as has been undertaken for the last 24 years in Wales. The top 400 performing fast-growth firms identified will be celebrated for their achievements and recognised as champions both in their region and across the UK.

The overall objective of the UK Fast Growth 50 is to identify the fastest-growing firms in each region and nation of the UK, through a process driven by access to research that is not publicly available, and by working with key stakeholders in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The UK Fast Growth 50 estimates that during the last two years, the 400 businesses identified across the eight nations and regions will have increased their turnover annually by £4 billion, and created an additional 20,000 jobs every year during their growth. The programme will also make a significant contribution to the levelling-up agenda that is currently driving UK Government economic policy.

Payhawk was founded in 2018 by Hristo Borisov, Boyko Karadzhov, and Konstantin Dzhengozov, and is a fintech company that combines expense management, payments, and invoice management, in one solution. Now with HQ in London, and offices in Sofia, New York, Paris, Berlin, Barcelona and Amsterdam, in 2022 Payhawk extended its Series B round of funding to $215m, becoming the first Bulgarian-founded unicorn. The company plans to become a catalyst for the Bulgarian startup ecosystem and to continue attracting and retaining the top 1% of talent in the market.

It has been reported in a recent survey by Harvard Business Review and Payhawk that three-quarters (76%) of respondents said that finance departments play an important role in supporting their organisation’s business objectives. A large part of that is down to a change in business conditions over the years, giving rise to finance teams being more innovative and collaborative with other departments in such areas as environmental, social, governance and supply chains. In light of this, from the 400 identified in the Fast Growth 50 Index, 50 of the most exceptional fintech individuals, teams and companies will be identified in the ‘Finance 50’.

Applications for the Fast Growth 50 Index, and therefore the Finance 50, are open now and close at the start of July. The lists will be announced at the end of the year with the purpose of recognising and championing the phenomenal entrepreneurial and fintech talent in the UK.                 

Hristo Borisov, Payhawk CEO and Co-founder says, “Payhawk is thrilled to collaborate with Fast Growth 50 on its expansion to find the top 50 fastest-growing firms across the UK. As a fast-growing company, ourselves - Payhawk’s value leapt by 75% between November 2021 to March 2022, to become the first Bulgarian-founded unicorn - we know what to look out for in the leading companies of tomorrow.”

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder of the Fast Growth 50 Index says, “We are pleased to work alongside Payhawk on the expansion of the Fast Growth 50 list, to include companies across the 8 regions of the UK. Payhawks growth - from its launch in 2018, to gaining unicorn status in 2022 -  lends our search the knowledge of what to look out for in our emerging businesses.”

The list is open to applications until the start of July 2023. Apply online at: https://fastgrowth50.awardsplatform.com/

An analysis of insurance apps in the Google Play Store has revealed that one in ten (10%) adults in the UK now could be using Android apps to manage their insurance policies. 

The survey by app marketing analytics platform App Radar looked into four different insurance sectors including motor, travel, life and home insurance. Overall, the insurance apps analysed had 40% more downloads in 2022 (2.2m) compared to 2021 (1.6m). 

The total lifetime Google Play downloads reached an estimated 6.9 million at the end of 2022. When taking into account Apple App Store downloads, the total in 2022 could have been as high as 13.8 million. 

The most popular insurance app, in terms of lifetime Google Play Store downloads, was Hastings Direct Insurance with 1.2 million downloads, followed by Cuvva with 1.1 million, Holiday Extras with 1 million and MyAviva with 652,000. 

Post Office Travel (256%), Travel Mate - Cedar Tree (249%), Holiday Extras (190%), Dayinsure (100%), Rooster Car Insurance (91%)  experienced the biggest percentage download growth in 2022 when compared to 2021.

When looking at 2022 downloads, the top five apps were Hastings Direct Insurance (392k), Holiday Extras (373k), Admiral Insurance (246k), MyRAC (201k), Cuvva (170k).

Silvio Peruci, Managing Director, App Radar, said: “Reports are claiming that the global insurtech sector is expected to be worth almost $30bn by 2026 from $8bn in 2021. For the UK specifically, the market is ripe for growth with an estimated £50bn potential revenue opportunity from disruption. 

“This should serve as a warning sign for the incumbents that dominate the market with legacy technology. Start-ups in this area are hungry to disrupt and make insurance easy for their customers with new tech. Cuvva, for example, is the second most downloaded insurance app in the Google Play Store, according to our analysis, with DriveScore, Caura, Dayinsure and Rooster joining the race for app users. 

“As the cost of living crisis continues throughout the year, competition among insurance companies for new app users will only increase. What’s more challenging is that consumers are used to shopping around for the best quote when it comes to insurance policies. One way to retain and gain customers is to offer the best user experience and features that they need, in addition to competitive policy pricing. As the insurtech sector continues to grow in uncertain economic times, app developers and marketers will need to undertake thorough market research to understand their customers’ needs to be able to cut through the noise.”

OTC Equity Derivatives workflow vendor VECTALIS has acquired fellow financial technology firm BrokerHub in a deal that provides market participants with a comprehensive global pre- and post-trade venue for equity derivatives.

After decades of competition, the two companies are joining forces to deliver some essential services to market participants. These services include price dissemination from interdealer brokers to investment banks, the reporting of block trades to multiple exchanges, as well as the generation of confirmation tickets by brokers and the reconciliation of broker fees for banks. All these services combined in one place means there is now a unique platform that covers the front-to-back office for any investment bank running an equity derivatives desk.

Commenting on the acquisition, Julien Flaquieres CEO of VECTALIS said: “EQD is a very broad space that involves a number of moving parts to complete a trade, as well as a multitude of different interacting departments. I am confident this collaboration, which aims to make current workflows smoother and more efficient, will be positive for our clients.”

“Together, BrokerHub and Vectalis will provide a unique set of services to enhance and optimize the equity derivative workflow for interdealer brokers and investment banks”, added Pierre Devos, Managing Director of BrokerHub.

NUMARQE, the London-based corporate-credit provider, has partnered with Plug-and-Play Finance provider, Weavr, to streamline the power of AI and embedded finance for a digitised corporate-card experience.

Many corporations struggle to obtain unsecured credit lines due to a lack of commitment and accessibility from banks and traditional credit providers, affecting working capital efficiency. NUMARQE’s innovative multi-currency credit platform harnesses the power of AI to enable real-time underwriting of credit risks, make intelligent lending decisions and efficiently allocate credit to its customers.  This allows NUMARQE to offer corporate businesses fast access to credit and with higher credit limits than they’d be offered elsewhere, whilst also providing more flexibility in how they spend against their credit line. With NUMARQE’s solution, corporations can be onboarded in as little as 20 minutes with instant access to a credit line and corporate cards. 

By combining the power of AI to enhance risk decision-making with Weavr’s Plug-and-Play Finance solution, NUMARQE now offers real-time card management and spend controls alongside tailored credit facilities in multiple currencies. The suite of services also includes secure online payments with virtual cards, enhanced business intelligence with spend insights and analytics. In building this suite of tools, NUMARQE gives companies total transparency over corporate spending, offering more control to Finance managers than ever before.

With a Weavr-powered card, NUMARQE also simplifies expense management, allowing Finance teams to create an automated feed or export transaction-data files in journal format to post into accounting software. The platform can reconcile digital receipts directly from the merchant with each transaction. As a result, enterprises can manage and track their team spending with instant visibility.

Weavr was the obvious partner for NUMARQE because of the company’s intuitive and easy-to-implement solution. Unlike the alternative of having to piece together a solution from multiple vendors and financial-service providers, Weavr’s platform can be integrated in a matter of weeks and at a fraction of the cost of traditional Banking-as-a-Service providers. This speed to market has enabled NUMARQE to respond quickly to the financial needs of its customers.

CEO of NUMARQE James Bowler said "Our multi-currency credit platform is designed to bring a major transformation to traditional credit offerings, providing corporates with a committed, unsecured credit line at their disposal, which can be seamlessly allocated across all their corporate spend.  This makes it incredibly easy and efficient for CFO’s and Finance managers to manage their working capital, whilst retaining complete transparency and control of company spend. From day one, we valued Weavr’s tech-first approach to problem-solving and the benefits it could bring to our platform. The company stands out as a true innovator that understands our customers and are wholly committed to helping other innovators grow.”

Alex Mifsud, Co-founder of Weavr said “NUMARQE enables much-needed access to credit for mid-sized corporates, which have traditionally been underserved with the kinds of financial products that many enterprises take for granted. Offering access to corporate cards with credit lines attached, in combination with other valuable financial management tools, is a great example of the value and innovation that embedded finance can unlock.”