Innovate Finance members join FinTech delegation on trade mission to Japan 

Innovate Finance, the independent membership organisation representing the global FinTech today announced its members are joining a FinTech delegation to Japan as part of a trade mission organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI). The mission runs from November 30th – December 2nd and will include briefings with Mitsubishi Estate, The Bank of Tokyo and NTT.

Among the FinTech startups selected for the trip are Innovate Finance members Azimo, City Falcon, FundApps, Money Mover, Prophis, World Remit and Yoyo Wallet.

Japan is ramping up its FinTech initiatives to help reform its existing financial services sector, which currently makes it difficult for new players to enter the market and inhibits local entrepreneurial growth. The country has made inroads to allow greater flexibility in financial services, particularly in the remittance market. Since 2010, new entrants have entered this space, including  UK FinTech startup World Remit, which will be launching services this year. The rise in new mobile payments firms are also helping to disrupt the country's banking sector. 

Commenting on the mission, Innovate Finance CEO Lawrence Wintermeyer said "The trade mission to Japan will showcase the UK talent that is helping to reform banking and hopefully inspire the Japanese financial markets to do more to change their financial systems and support more FinTech innovation."

The UK has the world's largest and most diverse FinTech ecosystem. The industry was worth £20billion to the British economy in 2014 across payments, software, data analytics and platforms, according to a recent report.

LEP INVESTS OVER £1 MILLION TO SUPPORT UPSKILL LOCAL BUSINESSES

Businesses across the Leeds City Region are benefitting from LEP support and grants totalling over £1 million to invest in skills and training their staff.  The funding has supported the training of over 2,000 individuals within almost 300 businesses across the region.

The LEP skills service is designed to support ambitious small and medium sized companies in Leeds City Region looking to develop the skills of their staff to help grow the business. The LEP secured funding from government to support growing businesses and deliver the ambition of creating a skilled and flexible workforce in the Leeds City Region.

One business that has secured funding through the LEP’ s skills service is Crompton Mouldings, a growing manufacturer , currently in the process of relocating to a larger premises and increasing its workforce.

Crompton Mouldings, which was established in 2007, designs and manufactures moulded products such as grit boxes, drainage products and cattle feeders, supplies a number of large agricultural, construction, medical and civil service organisations across the country.

The £2,600 grant from the LEP’s skills service is being used by the company to provide specialist training for a new rotational moulding machine which will increase the company’s capacity.

The LEP funding has enabled Crompton Mouldings, to expand its offering, as the new rotational moulding machine will give the business the opportunity to design and manufacture a range of larger products in-house.

Michael Gilmore, Production Director of Crompton Mouldings, said:

"We approached the LEP for skills support in order to increase staff efficiency, prepare employees for a surge in orders and ready the business for relocation to a larger premises with new machinery. Through the LEP skills service we were able to access funding to maximise our training budget enabling us to provide a full package of training for our team including continuous improvement essentials and a number of solid works CAD training courses.

“Training will enable our business to better understand the principles of lean manufacturing, supporting the staff to increase productivity and make efficiency savings, therefore reducing costs and increasing profitability. The training will also support the business to properly integrate a new rotational moulding machine which will greatly increase our capacity.

“The LEP skills service has played a huge part in making sure our business continues to grow and reaches its full potential.”

LEP Board member and skills lead, Mark Ridgway, of Group Rhodes said: “With grants of between £500 and £50,000 available to businesses with a budget to put towards training, employers have the opportunity to work with a team of expert skills advisors, discuss their long term growth plans and skills needs, and put together a robust training plan for their staff.

“Offering a comprehensive service to businesses, the team of advisors support employers to tackle paperwork, source appropriate training provision and submit an application for funding. The LEP are dedicated to ensuring local businesses primed for growth have the skills to succeed.”

As part of the LEP’s wider ambitions to invest in business growth, the skills service can support up to 50% of training costs for eligible businesses throughout the Leeds City Region.

The skills support available from the LEP is part of a wider package of support available to help small and medium sized business grow. Since the LEP was established, thousands of businesses have received support from finance to apprenticeship support and in turn, created thousands of new jobs. The LEP will launch its impact report on 3rd December 2015, looking back over the past four years and what impact the LEP’s activity has had on the regional economy. For more information about the launch of the LEP impact report, please contact [email protected]. 

IE Business School and Santander InnoVentures launch global FinTech Venture Days for financial technology startups

Fintech entrepreneur events held in Brazil, Spain, and Israel during 2016

FinTech Venture Days are an initiative from IE Business School, one of the world’s premier academic institutions and Santander InnoVentures, the corporate venture fund of Santander, the largest bank in the Eurozone by market capitalisation. The new partnership aims to inspire, encourage and empower a vibrant financial technology startup ecosystem around the world.

Bringing together regional stakeholders, including local investors and experienced entrepreneurs in each geography, FinTech Venture Days will explore the issues faced by startups in the financial technology sector, offering help in the form of advice, insight and best practices. FinTech Venture Days will be held in three cities in 2016: Tel Aviv (February), Sao Paolo (April), and Madrid (April).

FinTech Venture Days are open to any startup operating within the financial services industry. The organizers expect to see FinTech startups focusing on many sectors of finance, including payments, alternative lending, wealth management and investment services, client and risk analytics, customer experience and the digital delivery of financial services.

Each FinTech Venture Day will include a ‘Pitch Slam,’ in which innovative startups compete to win additional benefits and resources. The winner of each competition will benefit from expertise and capabilities of both global partners.

·         IE Business School will offer the successful startups workspace, together with access to expertise and mentoring from its leading academics in finance and business;

·         Santander InnoVentures will provide guidance and best practice on how to achieve a successful fund raising in order to accelerate business growth;

“The finance world is just starting to get disrupted, technologies like blockchain are bound to change the way we do business in the coming years,” says Paris de l’Etraz, managing Director of IE Business School’s Venture Lab. “Through this new initiative with Santander InnoVentures, we will attract and cultivate leading edge fintech startups on both a global and local level.” 

“In addition to experts from the three founding partners, we will be drawing upon contributions from local experts who understand each geography, the players, the dynamics and the regulatory environment. Getting a start in your local market is really important to every new venture.” adds Mariano Belinky, Managing Partner, Santander InnoVentures.