Innovate Finance

History

Innovate Finance was launched in August 2014. The idea for Innovate Finance was born during the summer of 2013 when the executive branch of the British Government, Number 10, asked the Co-Founders of Entiq (formerly Pivotal Innovations), to write a report defining and documenting the opportunities and challenges of the FinTech sector. This report was followed by a series of roundtables featuring numerous FinTech players, large and small, global financial institutions and other key industry stakeholders to define the organisation’s ambition and structure.

At the launch of Innovate Finance UK Chancellor George Osborne backed the initiative and promised to support efforts to promote the UK as a global fintech leader. Osborne said: “It’s only by harnessing innovations in finance, alongside our existing world class knowledge and skills in financial services, that we’ll ensure Britain’s financial sector continues to meet the diverse needs of businesses and consumers, here and around the globe, and create the jobs and growth we all want to see in the future.”

Membership Base

Innovate Finance members range from the world's leading global corporations to the UK's most promising fintech startups, who through Innovate Finance, receive a single point of access to policymakers, regulators, investors, customers, educators, talent and key commercial partners. It was launched with 50 founding members including Ratesetter, Transferwise, Azimo, Digital Shadows, HSBC, Barclays and IBM. Each member pays a fee that is tiered depending on the size of the company and "every member has one vote and an equal voice" said Cockerton.

Membership Benefits

Innovate Finance's work includes the following core activities:

• Policy and Research – Innovate Finance lobbies to represent the interests of members to government and regulators. It does this via its four Policy Working Groups and through its role as a secretariat for the first FinTech All Party Parliamentary Group. As such, members are able to indirectly influence the setting of new industry standards and have their voices heard. Innovate Finance also collaborates with its members and leading academic and research bodies to produce research on a wide range of topics within the FinTech space.

• Events and Programmes – Innovate Finance curates events and workshops for its member companies to help them meet potential business partners, investors and clients. Innovate Finance programmes range from flagship events like its annual Global Summit (which draws over 1,000 decision-makers) to intimate roundtables and knowledge hacks. Large-scale events also offer key opportunities for its members to receive exposure among the wider ecosystem.

• PR and Communications - Innovate Finance proactively generates exposure for its members across major trade, national and international media outlets such as Bloomberg TV, The Financial Times, The Economist, The BBC and The Guardian, amongst others. Innovate Finance also regularly delivers trade missions in partnership with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) to the US, Europe and Asia to attract investment.

Financial model

Innovate Finance is a not-for-profit organisation. It is supported by the City of London Corporation and the Canary Wharf Group, as well as via annual membership fees. Membership fees vary based on revenue and capital raised by the organisations wishing to join, this allows Innovate Finance to cater to the smallest pre-seed startups as well as larger financial institutions. It is based at Level 39 – the largest FinTech accelerator space in Europe.

Governance Model

The current CEO of the organisation is serial entrepreneur Lawrence Wintermeyer. Innovate Finance's first CEO was Claire Cockerton deputy head of the Level39 accelerator. Finance's non-executive board of directors include Alastair Lukies, founder of Monitise, Nick Hungerford of Nutmeg, Justin Fitzpatrick of DueDil, and Kirsten English, Executive Chairman of Style Research.

Alastair Lukies spoke at the launch of Innovate Finance and stated that bringing together big banks with smaller fintech firms to foster innovation was 'the key aim of the new body, arguing that real, scalable innovation requires co-operation between the two sides.'

FinTech Vision 2020

On 30 July 2015, UK Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Innovate Finance's FinTech Manifesto, a document that outlines Innovate Finance's vision for UK's FinTech sector in 2020. "This government wants the UK to be the leading FinTech centre in the world, that's why, at the summer Budget, we appointed a Special Envoy for this fast growing sector. I'm pleased that Innovate Finance's manifesto has set such ambitious goals including the creation of 100,000 jobs. This will ensure we are a world leader in the development of financial services technologies," said Cameron.

FinTech Regional Strategy

On 9 March 2015 Innovate Finance launched a regional strategy to connect technology hubs across the UK and to promote FinTech innovation throughout the country. The strategy was announced at the first Innovate Finance global summit at Guildhall in London, an event that explored the impact of technology on the financial services sector and how new innovation can help to create a better financial market.

The Innovate Finance Regional Strategy sets out a 5-point plan, which will ensure all regional fintech hubs are connected, engaged and growing. Innovate Finance will:

FinTech 101

On 4 August 2015 Open University, a world-leader in part-time learning, and Innovate Finance launched the world's first FinTech course. The online training course, FinTech 101: Understanding Financial Technologies, offers 50 hours of module-based learning and examines the origins of FinTech and its role in transforming the financial services landscape since the economic crash of 2008. It provides examples of the technologies making up this niche ecosystem and how they can help to democratise finance and promote social inclusion, ultimately contributing to the future sustainability of financial services. It was developed in conjunction with members of Innovate Finance and covers subjects such as the blockchain, cybersecurity and retail payments.

"There is a whole new language emerging when we talk about fintech," Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO of Innovate Finance, told CNBC. "We felt that it was important to level set the landscape to explain what fintech is."

Media Coverage

Innovate Finance has been covered extensively in global publications including Bloomberg, The Economist, Fox Business News, Australian Economic Review, The Independent, CNBC, City AM, The Guardian, American Banker, Euromoney, BBC, and more.