The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has marked the second anniversary of Project Innovate by announcing the firms that were successful in their applications to begin testing in the first cohort of the regulatory sandbox.

The FCA received 69 applications from a diverse range of sectors, geographies and sizes. A total of 24 applications were deemed to meet the sandbox eligibility criteria and were accepted to develop towards testing, including early stage startups, challengers and incumbent firms.

The firms who were accepted and will begin testing shortly are Billion, BitX, Blink Innovation, Bud, Citizens Advice, Epiphyte, Govcoin, HSBC, Issufy, Lloyds Banking Group, Nexday Property, Nivaura, Otonomos, Oval, SETL, Tradle, Tramonex, Swave.

Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: “The FCA’s regulatory sandbox was a first for regulators worldwide and underlines our deep commitment to innovation and our willingness to think outside the usual regulatory parameters. We are pleased to announce the first cohort of firms.”

“It has been an intense process for both firms and ourselves and we are grateful for their cooperation and hard work in getting us all to this position. We look forward to these businesses bringing new products and services to market whilst we ensure that appropriate consumer protection safeguards are in place.”

The regulatory sandbox aims to create a ‘safe space’ in which businesses can test innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms in a live environment while ensuring that consumers are appropriately protected.

The application window for the second sandbox cohort begins on 21 November 2015 and will close on 19 January 2017.

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