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Global outlook #2 – Spain – TheLogicValue

TheLogicValue integrates in a one stop solution the vast majority of financial information that up to date is spread out in expensive and diverse sources. This allows private banks and financial advisors access to data, analysis, risk control and proposals anywhere they go from any device.
Recent legal changes (MiFID II) are requiring advisors to be extremely transparent with their clients, meaning that market data, risk levels, client information”¦ should be integrated in the same tool, TheLogicValue does exactly that allowing parameters to be introduced by the entity to ensure maximum control and security.
Our platform is also fully modular, this way services can be used directly from our platform or be purchased separately via API, depending on personal needs (stocks, funds, pension plans, portfolio tools”¦). The program can be installed within the servers of banks and other entities, insuring data storage and protection of their client’s information.
In addition, our platform handles more than 200,000,000 data information in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese from our main supplier Reuters, broken down in:

  • Around 2,000 quoted stocks from 25 countries, 1,122 of which are evaluated by our analysts.

  • More Than 46,000 funds from over 40 countries.

  • Around 35,000 fixed income issues from more than 130 countries.

We can also provide entities with Julia, an online financial advisor that can also be tailored (with more than 900,000 hypothetical questions with a success rate of 85% with a response time of less than 5 seconds) which will help employees be more efficient and productive in there day to day information seek.
“TheLogicValue built a virtual assistant that draws on its wealth of investment and risk analysis data, providing rapid, useful responses to questions from financial advisors and investors.”
“As record-low interest rates eat into returns, banks are under pressure to retain and grow market share. TheLogicValue set out to help banks offer sound investment advice more efficiently”. IBM Watson and IBM Cloud
We are currently working with a few Spanish banks, one of which (Bankia) has more than 8,000,000 clients and is one of the leading banks of the country. As well as being in partnership with IBM.
Winners of the first edition of “Cuatrecasas acelera” a program on the look for legaltech, as well as being subject of a case study carried out by IBM.

4th International Call by Spanish Bank Bankia

Bankia Fintech Program allows startups from all around the world to develop a PoC for one of the most important banks in Spain without moving from their home country.
The organiser, Innsomnia, operates with a No Equity model, so startups can continue freely working for other clients of investors. Innsomnia just extended the deadline for international applications until the 30th of September.
The duration of the program is seven months during which startups will have direct access to the innovation partners of Bankia, and access to mentorship experts.
This call is for companies involved in the following verticals:

  • Solutions for SMEs

  • RegTech

  • Blockchain

  • WealthTech

  • Alternative Scoring

  • Cyber security

  • Artificial Intelligence ”“ Machine Learning

You can find all the information about the Open Call here. You can also speak to FinTech Scotland to be introduced to the team at Innsomnia.

Fintech 2018 Summit: Connecting the Scottish Financial Technology Community

Scotland is home to a burgeoning financial technology scene; driven by an ecosystem of exciting Fintech start-ups, large FS firms, universities and public sector bodies, it has attracted almost £37 million worth of investment in the past decade.

Fintech is a highly competitive global industry and, although there are numerous challenges to be overcome, we have the right mixture of ingredients for this thriving sector to continue to go from strength to strength.

Heritage, innovation and skills

The country has a rich heritage of financial services and, outside of London, Central-Scotland is seen to have the most well-rounded financial and business services cluster in the UK.

Scotland boasts an impressive track record of innovation and invention, with word-class universities and a diverse skills base across critical related disciplines such as data science, cyber security, software development and entrepreneurialism.

And while the Scottish ecosystem may be dwarfed in scale by larger hubs in the US and China, for many the small size, close proximity of stakeholders and the cohesive nature of the ecosystem is perceived as Scotland’s greatest strength.

Networking and collaboration

Networking and collaboration are key to the continued development of Scotland’s tech industry. That’s why events, such as DIGIT’s fifth annual financial technology summit Fintech 2018are so important.

Fintech 2018 will explore the evolution of the financial services sector, from developments in established tier-1 firms to the disruptive innovators within the start-up community that are reshaping the FS market.

The summit is geared for senior technologists, business leaders, academics and investors from across the financial service landscape. The event will bring these key stakeholders together for knowledge exchange, discussion and cross-pollination.

Hopefully, these kind of events will help the industry to create the open, collaborative ecosystem required to ensure Scotland becomes a leading global Fintech hub.

 

Fintech 2018 will be held at Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth on 19th and 20th September. For full conference details, visit https://www.fintech18.com/

FinTech Scotland announces Prudential UK as a strategic partner

FinTech Scotland is delighted to announce Prudential UK as a strategic partner.

Prudential UK, part of the UK and European savings and investments business of Prudential plc,is driving digital transformation and fintech innovation across a wide range of its long-term financial solutions to createa simple, modern savings and investment business focused on customers and financial advisers.

The strategic partnership with FinTech Scotland reflects Prudential UK’s strong ongoing commitment to playing a lead role in the digitalisation of financial services in Scotland and across the UK and is demonstrated by the opening of its new innovative, ground-breaking office hub in Edinburgh, for its Wealth Solutions business.

From its new Edinburgh office, the firm will drive digital and data innovations to create financial solutions for customers and independent financial advisers. It will bolster the broader fintech developments in Scotland by increasing collaboration with innovative entrepreneurs and develop opportunities for talent in order to accelerate the digital transformation of its business.

On securing the FinTech Scotland strategic partnership, Prudential UK’s Managing Director of Wealth Solutions, David Macmillan said: “In a short-period of time FinTech Scotland has assembled an impressive range of strategic partners which we’re delighted to be joining. Innovation through collaboration is the key to firmly establishing Scotland’s long-term fintech credentials and FinTech Scotland is uniquely positioned to help make this happen. The quality of the fintech community in Edinburgh convinced us to locate our new facility in the city and since doing so in May we’ve not been disappointed.

“We look forward to actively developing the already solid reputation of the community and relish the opportunity to work alongside our universities, government agencies and the other partners to foster entrepreneurial talent across the sector.”

With the pension savings, investments and wealth management sectors being so prevalent in Scotland, the partnership with Prudential UK was an important step for FinTech Scotland.

Chief executive Stephen Ingledew said: “We’re delighted to welcome Prudential UK as a new strategic partner who are very much leading the way to innovate in the pensions, investments and wealth management sectors with new technologies.

“I am hugely impressed with their ambitious plans and leadership in transforming financial services. Their appointment very much complements the other recently announced strategic partnerships and ensures we are reflecting the fintech opportunities across all aspects of financial services in Scotland and globally.”

Prudential UK is joining IBM, Equifax, Pinsent Masons, Deloitte, Dentsu Aegis Network and Sopra Steria as strategic partners to progress the development of the fintech ecosystem in Scotland and its Managing Director of Wealth Solutions, David Macmillan, will also join FinTech Scotland’s board.

Interview with Loral Quinn on being chosen for the Tech Nation programme

Well done Loral! What drove you to enter Tech Nation 2018?

We heard Eileen Burbidge’s keynote when we were pitching at EIE this year – as a Monzo investor, and with Sustainably’s beta being available for Monzo Bank customers, there were clear synergies with what we were doing at Sustainably, so we really wanted to meet her. We were very excited to pitch our idea to Tech Nation, with access to incredible judges including Eileen, who we want to help us on our journey.

It’s been a great year for Sustainably it terms of industry recognition. How do you explain it?

It’s been a positive year for us as a business, winning a number of industry awards, and meeting Richard Branson, who even wrote a blog about us! There is a real shift towards more social responsibility and sustainability in business, and a rise in ethical consumerism, and that fits in perfectly with our mission. We’re also seeing a lot of charities hire innovation managers, who are coming to us to help them to engage and attract new audiences through our technology.

It’s not the first time you’ll be travelling to the US, how important is it for fintechs to develop an international network?

Our growth strategy for Sustainably is very much international. The US is a key market for us and we’re looking to build our partnerships there for international growth.

What does entering this programme mean for Sustainably?

The Tech Nation fintech programme will enable us to connect with other fintechs for peer learning, and access entrepreneurs in the fintech eco-system who can help coach and mentor us through our next growth phase. For us it’s all about learning, to enable us to create products people love and make more positive impact in communities.

What does the end of the year look like for you?

We need to be laser focused on product, so that’s our key priority, as is onboarding additional members of the team and our pipeline of good causes. We hope to make some major announcements soon in terms of partnerships, and we’ve got some great people lined up to join the team.

What challenges do you hope to overcome thanks to Tech Nation?

We hope that by being part of Tech Nation it will help raise our profile, help us with our ambitions for international expansion, and connect us to a peer group to help us learn, partner, grow.

AIMday® Fintech: collaboration to tackle real-world problems

Fintech is changing the world of finance through innovation. Discuss your fintech challenges with expert academic researchers from the University of Edinburgh.
AIMday® Fintech brings together businesses and world-leading specialists to tackle real-world problems posed by current and future trends in the broad field of fintech.
AIMday Fintech, on 28 November, hosted by Edinburgh Innovations, the innovation management service of the University of Edinburgh, is a collaborative one-day knowledge exchange event. The event comprises multiple one-hour workshops based on challenges and questions put forward by companies.
Allowing industry leaders to join forces with University of Edinburgh researchers to address fintech business challenges and build new partnerships.
The AIMday (Academic Industry Meeting day) format allows companies to pose questions in advance of the event, which are matched with researchers specialising in the relevant field. On the day itself, businesses and academics address the challenges together to explore potential solutions and build partnerships.
The University of Edinburgh is home to expertise in finance, data science and digital innovation, making us well placed to help your organisation address its fintech challenges by working with academic experts from across the University. Companies are invited to put forward multiple questions and we particularly welcome questions on the following topics:

  • Blockchain

  • Cyber security

  • Product and service design

  • AI and machine learning

  • Policy, ethics and regulation

  • Big data, analytics and modelling

Businesses have until 10 October to register their questions for AIMday Fintech.
Blog provided by Edinburgh Innovations

Applied Fintech Project at the University of Glasgow

After the many important achievements during its first year of existence, the University of Glasgow Fintech Society is delighted to share its ambitious plans for the upcoming academic year.

Only founded in summer 2017, the society was able to reach more than 100 members, organise six workshops and a panel events supporting the idea of “learning by doing”, invite guest speakers from famous Fintech companies and get shortlisted for the Best New Society of the Year Award by the Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council.

Now that the new academic year is approaching, the society aims to develop even more by offering innovative learning opportunities.

A proof of this is the Applied Fintech Project (AFTP), a 7-week-long activity based on experiential learning, which will take place between September and November 2018.

There will be 4 teams of 4-5 members from different subject areas and degrees within the University, selected by the society’s board through an application process. The teams will work on a “live” business case provided by Orca, an Edinburgh-based Fintech startup which operates in the peer to peer lending industry.

During the working period, the teams will be supported and guided by mentors (University of Glasgow alumni and/or professionals) and they will be asked to prepare a report and a presentation to show their work.

The AFTP will end with a final event on Friday 16th November 2018, during which the teams will have the chance to present in front of an audience of academics, professionals and students. A board of judges will then deliberate which team has presented the best solution to the case.

The event, taking place at Glasgow University Union (GUU), will also represent a great networking opportunity for everyone involved.

The Applied Fintech Project is not only an exciting opportunity for the students and the businesses involved, but also the first project of its kind organised by a student-led society in Scotland.

Fintech Society members will work in teams to map out the challenges and opportunities faced by the businesses with regards to Fintech, drawing on cross-disciplinary research to devise tailored insights and potential solutions for the firm. At the same time, the startup providing the case will benefit from having the opportunity to gain another perspective on the specific Fintech-related issue from university students. Furthermore, the business will havethe chance to promote themselves among university students interested in technology,finance and innovation.

Apart from the kind support received by Orca in the provision of the case, the AFTP is supported by the UofG Fintech Society’s main sponsor, Previse, a successful Fintech startup that uses an artificial intelligence solution to support instant payments between corporates and SMEs.

For further information about the project, the UofG Fintech Society can be contacted at info@uogfintech.com.

Global outlook #1 – New Zealand – Banqer

Banqer transforms the classroom into a virtual economy
Banqer is an award-winning innovative financial education platform that gives primary and elementary students hands on experience with personal finances.
Through an online classroom currency, Banqer gets kids everywhere curious, creative, and ultimately, confident with money.
The startup was awarded the Child Youth Finance International Economic Citizenship Education’ Award at the Global Inclusion Awards in 2017. Banqer is the first New Zealand company to ever be recognised by the Global Inclusion Awards.
Kendall Flutey, who co-founded Banqer in Christchurch, New Zealand launched the business in January 2015 with four business partners, after developing the concept at a start-up event the previous year.
She says New Zealand needs to ensure educators are comfortable in the digital world and creating a digital-centric educational environment is critical.
Her company partners with Kiwibank, helping more than 63,000 students in Australasia teaching students about saving, investing, borrowing and purchasing by turning the classroom into a virtual economy.
Flutey says one concern she has with ed-tech is that people are confusing digital consumption with digital production ”“ and students need to become future leaders in the digital creation space.
“The other remaining stigma is around girls and tech. We urgently need more females to get into tech as a career. People are doing awesome mahi (work) in this space, but this issue needs to be quashed. It’s the last thing we need. Women who get into tech are doing amazing things.”
Flutey says to crank up to the digital revolution in New Zealand, businesses, organisations and people need to reduce barriers, be it devices, literacy, confidence or capabilities.

Blockchain Live 2018

On September 26 in London, Europe’s premier blockchain event will bring the latest and greatest in Blockchain, DLT and Smart Contracts. Blockchain Live 2018 will welcome big names such as Bitfury, ConsenSys and EOS.

For the first time, a meeting of some of the greatest experts in blockchain and DLT will be hosted in London. Amongst others, Nick Szabo, the father of smart contracts; Alex Tapscott, Author of the Blockchain Revolution; Blockchain Guru, Oliver Bussmann and the Chamber of Digital Commerce’s Perianne Boring will share their thoughts.

Blockchain Live 2018 will deliver industry inspired content. The conference will help businesses wishing to harness the potential of blockchain. It will look at the full spectrum from pioneering developers to the new generation of investors and entrepreneurs.

The event will contain a mix of free-to-attend and paid-for content. The paid-for events: the Blockchain Leaders’ Summit and C-Suite Stage, are directed at business leaders who want to learn from real life case studies on strategic implications of blockchain.
The C-Suite events will help attendees make the most of a blockchain enabled future.

There are 7 free-to-attend Industry Stages’ around some verticals such Fintech, Govtech, TechDev, Product Journey, Cryptocurrency, Energy Forum and Creatives including gaming, gambling and entertainment.
You’ll be able to listen from BNP Paribas, SWIFT, London Stock Exchange Group, EDF, Coca-Cola, Bupa and HSBC.

On top of all of this the organisers are bringing 2 new events to Blockchain Live 2018:
Blockchain Bust Up: Live debate on the governance and regulation around Blockchain and DLT

Investor Zone featuring The Start-Up Village and Pitch: a hive of blockchain innovators with new and exciting technologies

To read more and register click here

The Herald Intrapreneurial Conference in association with CivTech®

What is Intrapreneurship?

It is an essential part of a nations landscape to encourage, discuss and focus on Intrapreneurship to ensure that a nation’s economy grows.

Internal Entrepreneurship – intrapreneurship – is crucial to companies who wish to keep their competitive edge. It is becoming increasingly important, in such fast-paced times, to encourage and grow those from the inside of a company, where their talent and knowledge lies.

The conference

To help achieve businesses’ ambitions for empowering those with an entrepreneurial spirit, The Herald are holding their first Intrapreneurial Conference to engage, inspire and showcase organisations, companies, workplaces and individuals who are leading the way on their Intrapreneurial journeys.

Intrapreneurship has never been more important to our businesses, our economy and our society in such changing times. This is an event you do not want to miss.

The Intrapreneurial Conference takes place on August 28 at 200 St Vincent Street, Glasgow.

Register on https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-herald-intrapreneurial-conference-in-association-with-civtech-tickets-47350832615

For further information please contact Kirsty Loughlin on 0141 302 6016 or email kirsty.loughlin@newsquest.co.uk