Remember last year when everyone was yelling "BREXIT BREXIT BREXIT" and declaring the robust UK fintech scene would rush to leave the country and flee to Ireland, Germany and France within a fortnight? BTW, that's two weeks, folks. Well, it turns out that the exact opposite has happened and in fact, this year is on target for record investments in fintech startups based in London. Really you can't listen to "the experts" all the time can you? The education and banking infrastructure of England is far too robust to dismiss that easily. Shall we move on?
(Cindy Taylor/Publisher)
"London has cemented its place as the leading centre for financial technology startups in Europe, with 2017 set to be a record year for
investment
, despite fears that Brexit would harm the industry.Investors
have pumped over £825m into UK fintech companies so far this year, according research from the Mayor of London’s official promotional agency, London & Partners.London has become the fourth best city in the world for fintech venture capital investment over the past five years, behind San Francisco, Beijing and New York, the figures show. Firms in the UK capital have raised £2.4bn in early-stage funding in that time – five times more than the nearest European rival, Stockholm, and more than Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin and Amsterdam combined.
Funding for UK fintech startups dropped by more than a third last year, in part as a result of investors putting off making financial commitments in the wake of the Brexit vote. The latest figures suggest London has bounced back and is on course to beat the £983bn raised in 2015.
Separate research from specialist banking andinvestment
firm Investec found that over one third of investors into London’s fintech sector in 2017 were based overseas.The news comes as representatives of 12 of London’s fastest growing fintech companies prepare to join a mayoral trade mission to Money 20/20, a major global technology conference in the US next week...."
Full Story at Independent.co.uk