FINTECH entrepreneurs want to live there, investors want to have access to it, governments want to promote it — but what are the secret ingredients of creating a FINTECH Hub? This article takes London as an example and describes how London became the European FINTECH Capital. It highlights private and public initiatives which laid the foundations of a successful fintech ecosystem.
In order to become a fintech hub, a city or region needs to be one or more of the following:
A financial center
A technology center
An entrepreneurial center
Being a financial center does not require global leadership across all asset classes and all financial services but it requires having a successful niche. Switzerland is well known for its asset management industry for example and therefore it is only natural that many fintech start-ups are being launched in this area.
Being a technology center requires to have great tech talent locally including top programmers and system architects, UX designers across platforms (online, mobile, tablets and wearables). There must be a support system to nurture the tech community and celebrate their achievements.
Being an entrepreneurial center includes supporting start-ups, providing them with free advice, public grants, access to social networks, removal of bureaucracy when setting up your business, access to office space, incubators and accelerators and an overall environment which encourages and rewards entrepreneurship with attractive tax frameworks.
London as a leading financial and technology center invests and encourages entrepreneurship and thus has taken the leadership position in being Europe’s fintech hub with the ambition to becoming the global fintech capital of the world. This article will highlight key initiatives to help
International fintech firms who want to raise capital in London to tap into “smart money”
Investors who want to connect with the best fintech entrepreneurs in London to optimize their dealflow and
Governments & regional development bodies to learn from best practice and access a tool kit which can be applied in other locations, too.