“UK FinTech has reached an all-time high, with an ncredible $11.6bn pouring into the sector in 2021, positioning the UK firmly as a global leader of financial innovation, second in the world behind only the US, and ahead of the next 6 European countries behind us combined.”
These words from Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, marked the start of #IFGS2022; a momentous summit that spearheaded UK FinTech Week.
Over the course of 36 hours, leaders from the FinTech community gathered to explore how a new wave of innovation – embedded finance, programmable assets, blockchain enabled payments and the next generation of machine learning – can be mobilised to address the world’s greatest challenges.
I hosted an interesting discussion with Manuel Silva Martinez, General Partner at Mouro Capital.
He sits on the boards of numerous FinTech pioneers; from a credit scoring startup based in Berlin to a business intelligence platform based in Mexico. He has a truly global perspective on the sector.
Manuel reflected on the different styles of entrepreneurs around the world – he argued that the US is all about the eternal optimism of Silicon Valley, whilst Latin America is all about the eternal optimism of emerging economies. In Europe however, the outlook is a little more restrained.
For Manuel, FinTech is the ultimate enabler – providing limitless opportunities for entrepreneurs to innovate and drive positive change.
Commenting on the UK’s proposition for FinTech, Manuel praised the government’s willingness to bet on entrepreneurship as a key driver of the economy. As Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announces new proposals to enhance the UK’s competitive advantage in FinTech, the future of the sector looks bright.