UK To Launch Program Aimed At Keeping FinTechs In The Country

Aiming to prevent startups from defecting after London leaves the European Union, the U.K. government is offering startups a bunch of perks to keep them in the city by providing them trips, dinners and startup help — and potentially hooking them up with U.S. partners.

Reuters, citing an announcement from the U.K. government, reported officials will launch “Tech Nation” in September, which will be a program available to early-stage FinTechs that are looking to partner with other businesses or sell themselves. In order to be accepted into the program, candidates have to be based in the U.K. and show success in the market for their product. Once a FinTech gets into the program, it works with established FinTech entrepreneurs to learn how to grow the business and contend with regulation as well as expand the business outside of the U.K. “Tech Nation” also includes learning sessions and networking dinners. “The program will culminate in a showcase trip to the U.S. to give the cohort a feel for the American market, its ecosystem dynamics and investors,” the finance ministry in the U.K. said, according to Reuters.  Candidates will be screened by a panel of executives in the FinTech marketplace, including Starling Bank Chief Executive Anne Boden and MarketInvoice Chief Executive Anil Stocker. “The program will help to give some of these startups a boost to the next stage, and with it bring innovative new products to the market,” Britain’s financial services minister John Glen said in a statement.

Even with the new program, the city of London may do more to keep FinTechs there and lure new ones once it is no longer part of the European Union. Reuters noted that in October it said there should be a single policy vision for the FinTech sector as a way to support hiring workers outside of the U.K. and to enhance the ability of FinTechs to expand outside of their local market.