Sedicii Awarded ‘Technology Pioneer 2015’ by World Economic Forum

●      World Economic Forum today announced its selection of the world’s 49 most promising Technology Pioneers 2015, including Sedicii, the only Irish company in the selection.

●      Sedicii has produced a secure authentication technology, which eliminates the transmission and storage of private identity data during authentication or identity verification, reducing possibilities for identity theft, impersonation and the resulting fraud.

●      US and UK based companies make up 80% of awardees

●      The full list of recognized Technology Pioneers can be viewed here (Link active as of 5 August, 8:00AM BST)  

London, 5 August 2015 – Sedicii, headquartered in Waterford, Ireland, whose patented “Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol”technology, developed at the National University of Ireland, Galway, is designed to protect both consumers’ and corporates’ sensitive personal data, has today been recognised as a ‘Technology Pioneer 2015’ by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Sedicii’s technology enables secure authentication by ensuring the correct password or identity attribute has been entered into a user’s device, without ever exposing or transmitting  the password or the concealed personal identity attribute. The patented Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol has also brought Sedicii recognition as winners of the BT Infinity Challenge and the EY Startup Challenge. Will Pryke, Director of Operations at BT’s Infinity Lab commented: “Security and customer experience are key areas for all businesses. We are very pleased to be innovating with Sedicii since they won our BT Infinity Lab competition last year. Congratulations to the Sedicii team, it is great to see them recognised as a Tech Pioneer.”

Sedicii was chosen by a professional jury among hundreds of candidates as one of the 49 selected companies. Thanks to its selection, it will have access to the most influential and sought-after business and political network in the world, and be invited to the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos” in Dalian, China, this September, or the Annual Meeting in Davos in January.

“We’re glad to see an Irish company make it to the selection,” says Fulvia Montresor, Head of Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum. “Sedicii is part of a group of entrepreneurs who are more aware of the crucial challenges of the world around them, and who are determined to do their part to solve those challenges with their company.”

As in previous years, American-based entrepreneurs continue to dominate the list of technology pioneers: they account for more than two-thirds of the recipients, followed by the United Kingdom (4), Israel and the Netherlands (2), and individual recipients of Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Taiwan, China. France and Spain were among the countries not counting a recipient.                 

The Technology Pioneers were selected from among hundreds of applicants by a selection committee of 68 academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and corporate executives. Notable members of the committee include Arianna Huffington (founder, Huffington Post) and Henry Blodget (editor-in-chief, Business Insider). The committee based its decisions on criteria including innovation, potential impact, working prototype, viability and leadership.  Past recipients include Google (2001), Wikimedia (2007), Mozilla (2007), Kickstarter (2011) and Dropbox (2011). More information on past winners can be found here.

What’s next for the P2P lending market?

ThinCats annual conference July 2015

Regulation and risk were top of the agenda for lenders and borrowers attending one of the industry’s key events at the ThinCats annual conference at the Royal Institute in London on Tuesday 14th July. The afternoon was an opportunity for lenders to listen to and engage with industry leaders who have been at the forefront of growth in a sector now valued at over £2.1bn in the UK. The afternoon also included an opportunity to meet borrowers and lenders who have turned to the ThinCats platform and the sponsors at the heart of the ThinCats offering.

The P2P industry continues to battle on a daily basis to educate advisers and potential lenders on how the industry is truly regulated. Specifically, Christine Farnish discussed the members of the P2PFA, including ThinCats, who pride themselves on being transparent, always explaining the risk to lenders’ capital as well as the benefits. Strict crowd due diligence is part and parcel of using a P2P platform as a lender and a borrower.

On another note, Andy Davis and Ben Dyson both discussed how we now live in a world where banks are simply not lending enough to small businesses and how P2P is meeting a fundamental need to help businesses grow. The fact that P2P requires the lender to take an interest in what they are investing in and the opportunity to be directly involved in businesses you are lending to opens up a door to lenders and borrowers alike. This was echoed by John Mould who stated the significant benefits to being a lender on a P2P platform - namely better interest, more robust loan recovery and more secondary market liquidity.

Therefore the ThinCats annual conference closed on a high note – that the future of the P2P lending market looks to be a bright one and full of opportunities for both lenders and borrowers. The new “innovative” P2P ISA announced in the Summer Budget will strengthen the credibility of P2P and give lenders a chance to dip their toes into P2P through an alternative route. Ultimately, the challenges we face, stem from the growth of the industry at such a fast pace and ensuring that amongst this huge development, ThinCats stay true to the P2P “soul” for our lenders, sponsors and borrowers.

Blue Sky Accredited Big Potential Advanced Provider

Blue Sky Corporate Finance have been approved as one of a number of Big Potential Advanced providers, offering advice and guidance to Social Enterprises looking to achieve investment readiness.

Big Potential Advanced is delivered by The Social Investment Business on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund and is aimed at ensuring VCSEs (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises) are better equipped to secure new forms of investment and compete for public service contracts. 

Big Potential Advanced supports more established organisations that are looking to raise in excess of £500K. The programme will deliver approximately £10m of grant funding until late 2017 enabling eligible VSCEs to access grants of between £50K - £150K for specialist investment and/or contract readiness support from an approved Big Potential provider.

Tony Seaton, Associate Director, Blue Sky Corporate Finance, said: “We are delighted to have been accredited as a Big Potential Advanced provider.  We pride ourselves on knowing who is in the market for investing, the types of opportunities they are looking for and how best to approach them for finance and believe VSCEs will benefit hugely from the experience and expertise we can offer in helping them become investment ready. We look forward to supporting VSCEs in their endeavours to deliver even greater social impact.”

For VCSEs interested in finding out more on the programme and how it could benefit them, please contact Blue Sky Corporate Finance for a confidential, no-obligation chat and visit the Big Potential website http://www.bigpotential.org.uk/