Tech Nation is calling for applicants for its 2019 Fintech Growth Programme, delivered as part of HM Treasury's Fintech Sector Strategy.

Supported by Al Lukies and David Duffy of the Fintech Alliance, and running from September 2019 to March 2020, the leadership development programme is specifically designed to connect and create opportunities for the founders of the UK’s most promising FinTech scaleups.

The five-month schedule puts chief executives through nine themed insights sessions, delivered by some of the most established FinTech entrepreneurs, covering topics such as regulation, partnering with established financial services firms, and expanding internationally.

The cohort will also attend networking events to meet key stakeholders and decision makers, and the programme will culminate with a three-day international showcase trip to the US.

A panel of expert judges - including Eileen Burbidge, partner at Passion Capital and chair of Tech Nation; Anne Boden, chief executive of Starling Bank; and Simon Taylor, co-founder and Blockchain Practice Lead at 11:FS - will select the 25 companies.

Though external funding is not a requirement, applying companies must be at a stage of development equivalent to seed or Series A, have a product in market used actively, and be headquartered in the UK. The programme is open to business-to-business companies, and for the first time this year Tech Nation is also accepting business-to-consumer companies onto the programme.

The 2019 programme follows the launch of the annual Tech Nation Report, which revealed that the UK is number one in the world for scaleup investment into FinTech firms – generating £4.5 billion in funding between 2015 and 2018.

The 2018 cohort of the Tech Nation Fintech Growth Programme contributed to this success, raising an average of £1.1 million each last year.

The Economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen commented: “The country is full of exciting new companies that can break the mould and make our financial sector even stronger, and I urge all of them to get involved in this year’s programme.”

Greg Michel, Tech Nation, FinTech lead, added: “The last cohort companies have closed multiple funding rounds, won prestigious awards, struck strategic partnerships and expanded abroad while on the programme.

“In 2019 we are looking to replicate this success by connecting and creating opportunities for the most promising FinTech companies wherever they are based in the country so that they can compete on the global stage.”

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