New research from EY finds Fintech firms confident as half believe a massive growth explosion will occur in the next year, with growth increases exceeding 100 per cent.
If this forecast proves accurate, the next Fintech funding round could haul in a colossal £2.5 billion investment across the industry, followed by a third round in the next five years.
These statistics have been gathered and collated by London based professional services firm EY with support from Innovate Finance. The report is a census of UK Fintech firms, conducted on behalf of Her Majesty’s Treasury.
Over 245 Fintech companies formed the sample for this report, 33 per cent of which are expecting the release of an initial public offering (IPO). In addition to this, 35 per cent of the respondents are expecting to gain more than five million pounds in the next funding round.
Despite these strong predictions from Fintech companies, concerns remain regarding customer adoption. In response to the consensus, 49 per cent of companies said that this problem was among the most serious challenges of 2017. Customer adoption is essential to carrying on the momentum sparked by massive funding.
Imran Gulamhuseinwala, Global Head of FinTech at EY, comments: “It is fascinating to see the ambitious growth plans of UK FinTechs, both in terms of hiring new talent and expansion into new markets, which will continue to drive revenues and investment in the sector. Their concerns about the availability of talent and the uptake of FinTech services by customers are very real, however. The calibre of people leading and running FinTechs is a fundamental pillar to success – as is the future pipeline. Without a large and diverse talent pool, the industry will struggle to retain its ability to innovate.”
The tech skills gap continues to be a concern throughout the industry, particularly in vital areas such as cybersecurity, in which analysts are weighed down with tackling vast volumes of incoming data.
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Charlotte Crosswell, Innovate Finance Interim CEO, said: “The United Kingdom is an influential global FinTech leader but as the census findings reveals, we must continue to attract the talent we need to continue our growth and to help drive a more competitive, transparent and inclusive financial services sector.”
The UK is paving the way for the rest of the world in terms of Fintech, having gained record investment of £1.3 billion between January and June 2017, with London alone raking in £1.1 billion of the total. Insurtech is also booming in the UK, having drawn in investment of £218 million in the first half of 2017 alone.
Stephen Barclay, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “FinTech is saving millions of people time and money by transforming how we use financial services. The FinTech census shows a thriving sector and we are committed to ensuring that the UK remains the best place in the world to start and grow a FinTech business.”