Glasgow
A fintech powerhouse
A fintech powerhouse
Glasgow is a vibrant city where the fintech sector is growing at an unprecedented rate. Glasgow is the UK’s third largest financial centre and ranks 37th globally (GFCI Sept 24). The city specialises in asset management, investment operations, general insurance, shared services, business process outsourcing and the fast-growing areas of legal services and Fintech.
Glasgow City Regions stands out for its rapidly growing digital economy with key strengths in:
- Digital skills, backed by strategic initiatives
- Innovation capability and infrastructure
- Rolling out digital infrastructure
- Cluster excellence in digital and enabling technologies
- Innovation Districts model anchored by a strong Universities and College sector
A highly skilled population, with 56.9% educated to degree level, a growing start-up scene, and affordable office space, make the city an ideal place for starting and developing a business. Glasgow is home to over 20,000 digital tech jobs and it is also predicted that digital technologies will grow at 1.5 times the rate of the economy in Scotland until 2029 (Scotland IS Survey 2024).
Glasgow is one of the UK’s biggest tech investment hubs, with Glasgow City Region (GCR) attracting over £191 million in venture capital during 2023 in a record year for investment.
Glasgow’s regional tech ecosystem is now the UK’s 3rd and Europe’s 5th fastest growing in terms of venture capital investment growth, with its startup and scaleup landscape valued at over £4 billion in combined enterprise value.
Glasgow
When fin and tech meet
When fin and tech meet
Many large financial firms have established themselves in Glasgow: JP Morgan Chase, Barclays Wealth, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Virgin Money, Axa, Zurich Insurance and more.
Fintech is thriving in the city, with more than a quarter of Glasgow’s top 100 innovative technology firms operating in Financial & Business Services, this is the highest proportion among the UK core cities.
Glasgow ranks 3rd in the UK (outside London) in CBRE’s latest study of emerging tech destinations. With GCR now home to over 1,500 innovative tech firms – more than in Bristol, Brisbane, or Brussels.
Glasgow is in demand with more and more tech companies looking to establish themselves in the city. The city’s competitive costs are a very important factor. Entrepreneurs can capitalise on very competitive property prices with occupation costs around 40% lower than London.
Leading universities
Glasgow’s renowned universities, University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde, provide a collaborative platform between academia and industry. These leading academic institutions have continued to support tech innovation in the city, with nearly 30% of the total enterprise value coming from regional university spinouts.
From 2019 to 2024, Glasgow Universities have successfully supported:
- 110+ Spinouts
- £1.2B Combined Enterprise Value
- 1,300+ Jobs at Glasgow-based Spinouts
The University of Strathclyde was the first UK university to offer a Masters in Fintech and its Strathclyde Inspire Entrepreneurship strategy focuses on growing the pipeline of start-up and spin out companies in Glasgow. Whilst the University of Glasgow is home to the Urban Big Data Centre and the deep tech Infinity G Accelerator.
GLASGOW – A CITY OF INNOVATION
Innovation Districts
GCR boasts three Innovation Districts bringing together researchers and high-growth firms with technology and creative start-ups, to work side-by-side in vibrant, walkable innovation communities. These are in the centre and west of the city as well as out near Glasgow airport and are anchored by the international and industry research strengths of the city’s two principal research-intensive universities (University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde). Bolstered by proximity to innovation centres and research clusters, they offer specialisms in areas such as photonics, precision medicine, renewable energy, medtech, fintech, and quantum.
Innovation Accelerator
GCR is one of three UK locations to host a Silicon Valley-style innovation accelerator. Backed by £100 million UK Government funding, the three accelerator centres are modelled like Stanford-Silicon Valley and MIT-Greater Boston clusters in the US, combining research excellence with innovative industry in a city-region.
Tech Scaler Hubs
In summer 2022, the Scottish Government awarded up to £42 million to CodeBase, the largest technology incubator in the UK and one of the fastest growing in Europe, to establish seven new tech scaler hubs across Scotland. This includes the launch of a new Glasgow hub which is based in Glasgow’s historic Beco Building on the site of the Barclays Eagle Lab Campus . In addition to offering physical space, the hub also provides a range of support services, including access to expert mentoring and funding opportunities, to help a range of startup and scale up businesses.
Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC)
Smart Things Accelerator Centre is a unique IoT accelerator dedicated to scaling start-ups to become sustainable, globally competitive companies. A partnership between the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, and the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) centres around a £2.5m public and private sector investment into a 250-desk state-of-the-art co-working and lab space named thebeyond at SkyPark Glasgow. This innovation hub focuses on industrial, lifestyle, health, and sustainability technologies, with a view to as many as one hundred companies being operational at the location.
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL)
an industry-driven program led by Fintech Scotland, collaborating with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, DSIT, Innovate UK, and Glasgow City Region, SuperTech (West Midlands) and industry partners to advance technology’s role in shaping future financial regulations.
FRIL highlights real-life industry challenges and fosters a non-competitive environment that encourages collaboration among leading firms to explore cutting-edge solutions and drive sector innovation and in turn maximise customer outcomes.
Innovation calls to date have focused on AI and Compliance, Consumer Duty Outcomes, Financial Crime and ESG.
