Session Highlights

After an action-packed first day, Fintech Week London once again welcomed some of the most exciting and influential members of the tech and fintech community. Despite some early morning showers, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was radiating with positive energy as individuals headed back for another day of high-level networking and discussions.

Fintech Week London’s CEO, Raf De Kimpe welcomed Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, Andrew Griffith MP to the stage to kick off proceedings. During his informative keynote, Andrew discussed the strength of the UK’s tech and fintech sectors, before reaffirming the government’s continued commitment to protecting these sectors.

Next, a panel led by SkyParlour’s Managing Director, Kimberley Waldron examined the state of fintech funding. Amy Whitell, CEO & Co-Founder of Collctiv, Laura Pomfret, Co-Founder of Financielle, Craig Fox, Managing Director and Head of Fintech at HSBC Innovation Banking, and Will Mason, CEO & Founder of Infact Systems, provided insights on this important subject.

Louise O’Shea, Chair of the InsurTech UK Advisory Panel and FinTech Wales and Founder of Freedom Services Group, and Sam White, Founder and Global CEO of Stella Insurance Australia, then both delivered fascinating keynote talks on what is happening in the field of insurance, as well as the growth of insurtech.

This highly relevant topic was debated further during panel discussions and fireside chats throughout the morning. Among others, these conversations featured: Sabine VanderLinden, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Alchemy Crew, Rosie Denée, Head of Lloyd’s Lab, Louise Birritteri, CEO & Founder of Pikl and Fraser Edmond, CEO of Broker Insights.

Following this, George Beattie, Head of Innovation at CFC, spoke about the future of the insurance and the insurtech sectors. Exploring three future risk trends, George highlighted how nascent technologies are redefining liabilities in commercial and personal activity, before highlighting the need for insurers to respond to these evolving threats. 

In the last session before lunch, Mark Walker, Editorial Director at The Fintech Times, Andrew Barnett, Director at Deloitte, Emma Lindley, Managing Director International Expansion at CAF, and Chor Teh, Director of Financial Crime Compliance Industry Practice Lead at Moody’s Analytics KYC, joined forces to discuss data, risk, and fraud.

The afternoon then kicked off with a glimpse of the (near) future, when Dr Catriona Wallace, Founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance, and Julia Streets, Founder and CEO of Streets Consulting, joined forces for a virtual discussion around the future applications of the metaverse and how it could change how we all do business.

Conversations around the metaverse continued deep into the afternoon led by Julia Streets, before comedians Daman Bamrah and Abigoliah Schamaun took to the stage to inject some levity to proceedings with a humorous panel entitled the ‘Fintech TalkUp ShutDown’, which was well-received by attendees.

Discussions then moved to fintech’s potential to improve outcomes and opportunities across society. Notable speakers including Betsy Samuel, CMO of Thredd, Theodora Lau, Founder of Unconventional Ventures, Kam Chana, Head of Future Finance Lab at RCA and Jas Shah, Founder of bitsul, who all shared thoughts on the thought-provoking topic.

The final keynote speech of the day was helmed by Emmanuel Daniel, Founder of The Asian Banker. Emmanuel provided his thoughts on the advent of new technologies, which have given data owners greater control over who they want to interact with, creating several new and exciting business models for companies to explore in a post-platform age.

Finally, Raf De Kimpe ended the in-person event with his closing address, which recapped on some of the biggest highlights from an eventful couple of days. Now, attention will turn to the rest of Fintech Week London’s schedule, which will be hosted online until Friday, as well as The Fintech Awards, which will take place on Wednesday at The Underglobe.

Throughout the packed day, there were several noteworthy soundbites that caught the ear, including:

“I want the UK to be the envy of the world when it comes to innovation. As we demonstrated with the sale of Silicon Valley Bank to HSBC, this government will always provide protection and support to the country’s most innovative companies.”

Andrew Griffith MP, Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister

“We expect the metaverse to be mainstream in the next three to five years, and by the latest within the next ten years.”

"The UK is on the right path to establishing itself as a global centre for crypto regulation, something I've described as the Goldilocks approach not being too hot, not being too cold, striking the right balance between innovation and protection. With the right regulatory framework in place, our country will continue to thrive as a global tech hub, attracting the brightest minds and revolutionising industries across the board."

“The government will move open banking under a sustainability regulatory framework using the smart data power contained in the data protection and digital identity bill that is going through parliament. Within this bill, the government will have powers to unlock data in new sectors building out from the successes in early open banking.”

Andrew Barnett, Head of Fraud for Financial Services at Deloitte

"So I think the payment rails needs to be what I would call fatter, so they need more information to be shared between the sender and the receiver and vice versa. That needs to happen in real time to allow both the receiver and the sender to do their job as they need to in line with the payment schemes. It would definitely improve fraud detection, it will also mean that genuine customers, that are sending genuine payments are less likely to get those annoying messages."

Dr Catriona Wallace, Founder of Responsible Metaverse Alliance

“Being able to access talent, funding and a network of peers is important to any business’ development. London remains the UK’s largest fintech ecosystem, but other areas have now matured into genuine industry hubs too. If you can access one, then your business has the opportunity to grow. I think that’s why we’re seeing so many exciting things happening outside of the nation’s capital.”

Armin Kia, Co-Founder and CEO at Driverly

“I love the insurance industry, but aspects of it are currently broken. However, these problems create opportunities for companies to come along and provide solutions. That’s why it feels like the sector is about to embark on an exciting chapter.”

Charlotte Halkett, Chief Underwriting Officer at ManyPets

“Attaining funding can be incredibly frustrating. Right now, it feels like investors want companies with exceptional growth trajectory, while also prioritizing businesses that can demonstrate a quick route to profitability. Often, these two things can’t be achieved in tandem, which needs to be addressed.”

Laura Pomfret, Co-Founder of Financielle

“There’s been a big slowdown in funding, but much of this has occurred with companies seeking later rounds of investment. Let’s be clear, raising capital has never been an easy process and while it’s harder now there’s still plenty available for good companies.”

Craig Fox, Managing Director Head of Fintech at HSBC Innovation Banking

“We’d started to see more diverse founding teams coming to the fore in the past few years, which has unfortunately been stripped back on account of this funding downturn. Ultimately, the funding process is too inefficient and must be improved.” 

Amy Whitell, CEO and Co-Founder of Collctiv

“I think I speak for a lot of founders when I admit that I’m terrified about the prospect of raising money next year. Sadly, I’m not sure that 2024 will be a great year for investments into this space.”

Will Mason, Founder of Infact Systems

“It is becoming harder and harder for companies in the fintech sector to avoid having a ‘Blockbuster’ event. That is to say, a moment when the technology it relies on is replaced by something more effective and efficient.”

George Beattie, Head of Innovation at CFC

“We’ve been able to build incredible relationships with our local network in the East of England, where we originate from. In London it can sometimes feel like relationships are primarily transactional. We still have great relationships here, but are strongest, most collaborative partnerships are with peers from our local region.”

Louise Birritteri, CEO and Founder at Pikl

“I work with a lot of startups, many of whom are going through funding rounds right now and it’s clearly very difficult. Some companies are being forced to wait a long time for funding. The pressure can become immense, but it’s important to ensure you pick an investment partner that’s aligned with your values. It’s almost like a dating site; you just need to keep swiping until you find someone who’s the right match.”

Rosie Denée, Head of Lloyd’s Lab

“Our actions can make a huge impact on someone’s life. It’s so important for people to be able to come to work and to be themselves. We don’t know what people are going through, so it’s important to lean in and try to help.”

Betsy Samuel, CMO of Thredd

“We need to consider how we bake trust and ethical working practices into the metaverse. People must understand the risks to make informed decisions and ensure that we’re promoting digital ethics.”

Laura Henchoz, Client & Emerging Tech Leader at EY UKI

“We must think about the open and closed versions of the metaverse. The launch of Apple’s Vision Pro, and the rise of ‘Spatial Computing’ highlight how close we are to the dawning of a new technological shift. The future is now!”

Shane Leonard, CFO at Outlier Ventures

“The metaverse gives us an opportunity to do something good. However, will society learn from the mistakes of today’s world and actually make good on that potential? We need to ensure it’s a safe space for all, but especially for children.”

Sophia Bantanidis Future of Finance Analyst Citi Global Insights

“You don’t need to be a big corporation to make a difference. Every single one of us can make a difference if we try. There has never been a better time to make a change, and to build the future that we all want to see.”

Theodora Lau, Founder of Unconventional Ventures

Here are a few announcements from today that caught people’s attention:

• Financielle has secured its second £50k Innovate UK Award - this time for Inclusive innovation.
• Collctiv, the Manchester-based group payments app, has announced the achievement of over $40 million in processed transactions.
• FOMO Pay has implemented Moody’s Analytics End-to-End KYC/AML Risk Monitoring Solutions for its Secure Digital Payment and Digital Banking Services.
• Broker Insights has appointed tech sector luminary Tom Duke as Chief Operating Officer.
• Griffin has raised $13.5 million in Series A funding round led by MassMutual Ventures

For more information, please visit: https://www.fintechweek.london/event/ec9a5c6a-d3ca-47a1-b945-cfe73f878b81/summary

Fintech Awards London is also taking place at the exquisite Underglobe in London, with companies including SEON, Monzo, Weavr, OpenPayd and 11:FS all up for a gong. You can find the full shortlist here: https://www.fintechawardslondon.com/2023-awards/

Additionally, eFinancial Careers are running the Global Fintech Fair today, where you can find more information here: https://recruiterhub.efinancialcareers.com/Global-Fintech-Fair2023_EMEA-US_FTWL.html