Julie Lake
Co-Founder of The FinTech50 & Co-Founder and Director of FinTechCity
FinTech City recognises the European game-changers in finance, and many are in London. Co-founder Julie Lake explains why the capital is a hotbed of FinTech talent.
London’s FinTech ecosystem is flourishing thanks to its specialist incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces.
They are conveying a message globally that London is the place for financial services innovation. It is where the innovators meet the people who can change their lives.
Of the big FinTech four – Barclays TechStars, Accenture Innovation Lab, StartupBootCamp FinTech and Level39 – three chose London to launch.
They may be based in London but they are entirely location-neutral; seeking out innovators from around the world to join their cohorts and communities.
The top accelerators and co-work spaces regularly link with FinTech hubs worldwide to deliver huge value to their communities. This is a wireless, wall-free FinTech sans frontieres enabling people to connect and collaborate across different time zones.
One success story is enterprise behavioural analytics company Sybenetix which works with hedge funds and banks. It launched on The FinTech50 in January and in July was named one of the 2015 cohort at Accenture’s new Innovation Lab in Hong Kong. Its revenues have grown 300% and it now has a New York office.
As this hyper-connected ‘ecosystem’ grows, will buildings still matter? Yes, if the proliferation of co-work spaces is a benchmark.
One popular new London workspace is Second Home in E1. This former carpet factory turned creative hub is evidence that even in a virtual world physical buildings remain crucial to fuelling innovation.