UK chancellor Phillip Hammond yesterday in his Autum Statement pledged an extra £400 million of investment in venture capital funds via the British Business Bank, a move which he claims will “unlock up to £1 billion of new investment in innovation firms planning to scale up”.
The Department of International Trade has been tasked with administering the funds as well as producing an annual State of UK FinTech report. The government will also provide £500,000 a year for FinTech specialists as well as launch a network of ‘regional FinTech envoys’.
The chancellor also announced an additional £2 billion for R&D and innovation in order for the UK to remain “leading the world in disruptive technology”. This funding will back scientific research and development of technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and industrial biotechnology.
There were also changes relating to the use of digital ID verification. The guidance provided by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group will be updated to, in the Chancellor’s words, “support the use of technology to access financial services”. The idea behind the move, which will remove the ‘red tape’ surrounding the use of digital ID, is to provide a boost to digital financial firms.
Jacqueline de Rojas, managing director of northern Europe at Sage, said: “Philip Hammond’s acknowledgement that the Autumn Statement needed to support our cutting edge businesses leading the word in disruptive tech was much needed and an encouraging start.”
Anthony Day, partner in the technology sector at DLA Piper, added: “The news that the government is allocating funding for technology startups is positive, but the government needs to get the long term approach right to ensure success.
“This is particularly the case with FinTech. The UK is already a leading destination for FinTech globally, but the concern is that with Brexit we might lose that primacy. At this stage however, any efforts by the government to help promote and solidify the UK as the global FinTech hotspot will be very well received.”
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