The board of Banking Competition Remedies has announced the results of the Capability and Innovation Fund Pool D grant process, with Codat, Fluidly, Form3, Funding Options and Swoop Finance getting £5 million each.

Pool D is designed to facilitate the commercialisation of financial technology that is relevant to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as part of the £425 million Capability and Innovation Fund, which itself forms part of the £775 million overall package made available by the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland's Williams & Glyn venture.

Godfrey Cromwell, BCR’s chairman, explained that Pool D is for the commercialisation of FinTech. “There is a vibrant and varied FinTech community across the UK and Europe and BCR received a diverse range of strong, ambitious and innovative applications - it was very difficult to get down to just five awardees - we could easily have awarded to many more.

“Those selected provide services ranging from lending to international payments, from cashflow management to technology infrastructure, and are an exciting addition to the portfolio of CIF grants to date.”

The five successful applicants will shortly be invited to enter into a Capability and Innovation Fund Agreement with BCR.

BCR received a total of 60 applications for the Pool D process during an application window between 1 November 2018 and 30 April 2019.

Fluidly released a statement explaining it will use the funding to accelerate the development of its artificial intelligence-driven cashflow management software and give small businesses better access to emerging technology.

Following on from its £5 million Series A in November 2018 led by Nyca Partners, the £5 million BCR grant will significantly boost existing expansion plans, data science capabilities and product roadmap.

As part of the various public commitments the company laid out in its BCR bid, Fluidly aims to connect 400,000 SMEs to its platform by September 2022. In particular, Fluidly will work with accountants to offer improved financial support, to help the two thirds of small business owners losing sleep over cashflow concerns.

Chief executive and founder Caroline Plumb said: “Fluidly works to help SMEs sleep better at night, by providing control, certainty and confidence around cashflow.

"We’re intent on building a product that helps businesses with their most pressing challenge and allow them to benefit from the transformational potential of AI.”

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