Innovate Finance Week - Diversity Challenge Awards 2015 by Innovate Finance

Diversity Challenge Awards 2015

LEAD AND FOUNDING SPONSORS

AWARD NOMINEES ARE CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP

he inaugural Innovate Finance Diversity Awards shines a spotlight on member companies that are making tremendous inroads in building bridges between the traditional and new world of financial services, and taking meaningful steps to improve diversity and inclusion within the FinTech community. These companies are powerful forces of change. By embracing diversity, they are doing their part to solve the social divide and reaching a broader range of consumers. They are creating products and solutions that are responding to their needs and making dreams possible. Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funding university education, setting up a coffee shop or getting a mortgage for a first home, people need access to reliable finance for different things and the nominees for our awards are listening to what these are and delivering solutions to meet their needs. This is how it should be. All customers are vital to our success as a society and for our sector because they represent the backbone of the economy. The companies we celebrate today are doing their part to bring diversity to their workforce. For them, FinTech is not only about disrupting the financial services sector but changing perceptions and creating a business culture that is truly representative of the society we all want

to be part of. Our nominees are closing the skills gap, employing talent from different racial, ethnic and age groups, and showing the community what it truly means to be an inclusive company. Diversity makes sense. It brings new ideas for services and different solutions to problems in a world of changing markets and customer demands. It also brings a range of skills, cultural understanding and experience to help to inform companies of the strategies they require to meet the needs of a greater number of customers. This translates into better consumer solutions, productivity, and business results. Our sector is making great progress, especially in the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capital, but there is more that needs to be done to democratise finance and promote diversity. With an exciting mix of multiculturalism and leading industries, London is a world class city that is proving that social inclusion, through innovation and enlightened perceptions is good for business and community. This is something that can be achieved by everyone. We salute our pioneers of innovation for their ideas and leadership in this brave new world of finance. Diversity is a reality that we must all embrace and inclusion is the solution for a better future for everyone. Lawrence Wintermeyer CEO, Innovate Finance 3

have a workforce made up of individuals who contribute a variety of approaches and perspectives so the company doesn’t stagnate and fail. One of the strengths of the industry, and it goes in part explaining why the big banks are investing in startup accelerators, is because of the agility and nimbleness of the industry. The companies that have been nominated and ultimately win awards at the ‘Diversity Challenge Awards Ceremony’ have got the message and I congratulate them all on their success. As we saw earlier this year at the Innovate Finance Global Summit at Guildhall, there is a refreshing vibrancy in this sector. Long may it continue.

SUPPORTING DIVERSITY IN FINTECH

ince the financial crisis, the expansion of companies in financial technologies has brought innovation and prosperity to formerly run-down areas of the City fringes, revitalising Shoreditch, Old Street and King’s Cross as new business hubs. More than 44,000 people are now employed by FinTech companies across the UK – more than in New York or Silicon Valley. One thing is for sure: FinTech’s success cannot be underestimated, and it is now vital to London’s future as a financial centre. But for this growth to be sustained, the industry must have access to the widest talent pool. Startups that are pushing the boundaries, thinking creatively and generating the next big bright ideas, need to take the issue of diversity and inclusion seriously. No longer can these businesses – or any business - rest on their laurels and not wake up to this issue. The benefits of strong diversity and inclusion policies in place for a company are clear to see; greater staff retention, more job satisfaction and increased morale are but some of the benefits. They are all part of the bigger picture for the FinTech industry. It’s also important to 4

Mark Boleat Chairman, City of London Policy and Resource Committee

NATALIE CAMPBELL

atalie Campbell, is an entrepreneur, author and business coach. She is Founding Partner at A Very Good Company, a social innovation agency she co-founded in 2010 (www.averygoodcompany.com). The company vision is to create a world where people can feel good, do good and live better. This is achieved through helping clients such as Virgin Media, Marks and Spencer and Channel 4 to do well by doing good. Notable achievements include creating a global campaign to celebrate ‘Good’ (www.agoodweek.com), writing the government briefing paper that catalysed StartUp Loans, creating an internal CR brand and campaign for Channel 4 and training over 50,000 employees in health and financial awareness for Marks and Spencer. Natalie is currently the Director of ‘Kensington Creates’, a business incubator and co-working space based at the Kensington Aldridge Academy that she launched for EdTech and creative startups. She is also a Trustee of UnLtd, The Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and BIG Lottery UK Fund. Prior to starting A Very Good Company, Natalie led on the development and launch of Virgin Media Pioneers, a million-pound partnership between Enterprise UK and Virgin Media to set up an online videosharing platform for young entrepreneurs. In a previous role for the company, she launched 55 student enterprise

societies, the AoC Beacon Award for Enterprise, a national campaign called Students! Make Your Mark and ran enterprise workshops in Vietnam and Jamaica. Her own journey in entrepreneurship started at the age of 19. By 21, she had raised enough capital to set up a Morgan De Toi retail franchise in Lancaster (all whilst studying for her final year at university). Natalie is a Fellow of the Clore Social Leadership Programme and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. For the latter, she undertook a research project to explore how social entrepreneurship builds better communities in Canada, the USA and Brazil. She has also previously held board positions with The Consortium for Street Children, The British Youth Council (Vice-Chair Campaigns and Communications), VInspired and Wayra UnLtd a ‘tech for good’ accelerator programme funded by O2 Telefonica and the Cabinet Office. Natalie’s first book, Seven Steps to Running a Successful Business, published by HarperCollins was released in May 2014. A City University Broadcast Journalism grad, Natalie is now a columnist for Management Today, the Guardian and London Loves Business Natalie Campbell Founding Partner, A Very Good Company

WAYRA UK, WAYRA UNLTD & astar-fanshawe present

startupDNA A study revealing the social makeup of the start-up ecosystem in the United Kingdom... ... with support from: Astar-fanshawe BBC New Labs Cpadec Innovate Finance Isis Software Inclubator Mass Challenge Tech City Stars Tech City UK University of Oxford Virgin Start Up

For more information on the research, our approach & more, visit: www.startupdna.co.uk

A study revealing, the social makeup of the start-up ecosystem in the UK...

• •

The Wayra Study • The Wayra Diversity Project was created to sound a call to arms to those involved in start-ups - the entrepreneurs themselves, the investors, the incubators and the accelerators – to take diversity sriously, understand its power and take positive action to embrace it in their companies and in the range of their investment with the objective of boosting the growth of the start-ups and also the UK’s competitive position in the global market place for acceleration and investment. We wanted to start the debate that hasn’t, until now, been happening in the sector. How we did it? Wayra and astar-fanshawe designed a questionnaire to establish the level of diversity in UK start-ups and the impact the start-ups themselves felt it had on their work. 241 individuals from 222 companies across the UK completed the questionnaire after 42 partners – accelerators, incubators and co-working spaces – had distributed it across the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland. Of those who completed the survey, 214 indicated that they held executive-level positions (founders/CMOs etc) and 79% of all respondents identified themselves as working in a digital start-up, although, the survey was also open to other sectors. Key Partners: Key partners include: TechCity UK, Virgin Start Up, Mass Challenge, The University of Oxford’s ISIS accelerator, BBC Labs, Coadec and Tech City Stars.

• • •

75.2% of individuals agree that diversity help teams overcome challenges; 78.9% of individuals agree that diversity help teams compete; 71.5% of individuals agree that diversity help teams find new markets; 82.5% of individuals agree that diversity help teams bring new thinking; 80.3% of individuals believe that diversity has a positive impact on their team; 97.1 of individuals are open to working in diverse teams.

Compared to the US, an entrepreneur is 5x more likely to be female Over 30% of the UK ecosystem is made up of women, with 29% of all leadership roles held by a woman. London also beats other ecosystems in terms of gender diversity: • London entrepreneurs over 3x more likely to be female than in Silicon Valley. • London entrepreneurs over 3.5x more likely to be female than in Tel Aviv. UK start-ups are more ethnically diverse than, Silicon Valley and NYC Respectively 79%, 82% and 89% white. • In comparison to VC backed start-ups in the US, those in the UK are 27% less likely to be made up of Asian descent, but more than 10x more likely to be from any other heritage than white or Asian. • The UK start-up ecosystem is also 4x more likely to have individuals from ethnically diverse communities in C-suite positions than FTSE100 businesses. The UK is a global magnet for entrepreneurs – 1/3 from abroad While 66% of the participants hold UK passports, 20% are from the EU and 14% are from elsewhere across the globe. The three most common nationalities after British were Irish, American and Spanish.

The Findings: UK start-ups embrace diversity In overwhelming numbers, they were clear that diversity helps them in a number of ways in relation to overcoming challenges, competing in markets, and innovating.

The UK establishing itself as a millennial entrepreneurial hub Entrepreneurs in the UK are approximately 2.5x more likely to be under 36 than in the US.

RUSS SHAW FOUNDER, TECH LONDON ADVOCATES

uss is the Founder of Tech London Advocates, an advocacy group of senior leaders within the international technology community. He is currently a non-executive Director for Dialog and Unwire. He is a limited partner in Ariadne Capital’s ACE Fund, Vitruvian Partners Fund and an investor in and Advisor to Amazing Media Group. Lastly, Russ is on the Advisory Board of Letterone Telecom and E2Exchange. Previously Russ was VP and General Manager at Skype and Global Innovation Director at Telefonica.

maintain a disruptive mentality and constantly reaffirm its commitment to innovation, due to its fast-paced and ever-changing nature.

“FinTech is one of London’s greatest digital success stories”

FinTech is one of London’s greatest digital success stories and should be a showcase of the capital at its very best, bringing together the unique attributes of this city – creativity, innovation and diversity.

In the world of technology, diversity is a crucial tool for success. It is essential for the growth and prosperity of a company and a catalyst for innovation. The greatest ideas don’t originate from a room of people in agreement; they stem from contest, not compromise. For the best results, ideas should be torn apart and then put back together again. Diversity offers divergence; for this reason having a bank of varied viewpoints to reference, generates creative thinking and brilliant ideas. It is essential for FinTech to 8

This is where Tech London Advocates’ partnership with Innovate Finance plays its part - by offering this community a support network to join. It provides mechanisms to help convene and coordinate groups often underrepresented in tech and helps to showcase the extensive resources that London has to offer.

DIVERSITY CHALLENGE AWARDS - THE JUDGES

HOLLY BROCKWELL Editor-in-Chief, Gadgette

Holly is Editor-in-Chief at Gadgette, a new tech and lifestyle publication for women. She was formerly Editor and Reviews Editor at ShinyShiny, and frequently offers an expert tech opinion for outlets including Woman & Home, Glamour and the BBC. She has a long history of writing about phones and gadgets, having worked on high-profile tech brands including two iPhone launches, three UK phone networks and BlackBerry 10. Winning a prestigious award for ‘Best Use of Technology’ in the process.

KATE STEPHENS

KATY TURNER

Chief Executive at Smart Works

Chief Marketing Officer at Tech City UK

Kate is Chief Executive at Smart Works. Smart Works provide quality interview clothes, styling advice and interview training to out-of-work women on low incomes, helping them to succeed at their job interview. Smart Works’ mission is to ensure its London operations are best in class and to share those learnings with other cities in the UK. Kate has an extensive communications background, having previously been a Director at MHP Communications. Kate is also Joint Chair of Trustees for a leading campaigning charity.

Katy is Chief Marketing Officer at Tech City UK, a publicly-funded non-profit organisation with a private sector mentality. She is responsible for brand development, public affairs and communications, as well as providing marketing support to Tech City UK’s programmes including Digital Business Academy, Future Fifty, Tech Nation and HQ-UK. Her career has been spent growing technology businesses, starting with Orange. She then joined venture fund, Eden Ventures and from there, she joined Videoplaza (acquired by Ooyala).

SHARON COLLARD

DAN JONES

Professor of Personal Finance Capability at The Open University

Programme Director Innovation Lab at Nesta

Sharon is a Professor of Personal Finance Capability at The Open University. Her background is social policy, and she brings to the Centre 16 years’ experience of policy-focused social research on personal finance. Her research interests include the relationships between financial literacy, financial capability and financial inclusion, and what these mean for policy and practice. She’s also interested in the limits of personal finance capability and the role that regulators should play to achieve better outcomes for consumers.

Dan is Programme Director of Innovation Lab at Nesta. For 17 years, Dan worked for Christian Aid, and has worked in over 20 countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Dan has a longstanding interest in strengthening links between planning, implementation and evaluation, particularly in feeding learnings back into better decision-making. He is a frequent speaker on evidence, impact and value for money, and sits on the Steering Group for the Bond Evidence Principles. 9

HOLLY BROCKWELL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, GADGETTE

CROWDCUBE

alent doesn’t have a gender. It doesn’t have a colour, it doesn’t have an age and it doesn’t have an orientation. Which is why it’s crucially important – in FinTech as much as in any other sector – that everyone is represented equally, that the scales aren’t tipped in favour of this sex or that demographic. Because the reality is that the people using financial services don’t fit any kind of mould, and nor should the industry that serves them. We all want a world where the best people get the job. Where biology and background are irrelevant next to perseverance and performance. Where the little girl who wants to be a coder, a financial adviser or a CEO can look up and see people just like her in those roles. We’re not there yet. But I’m proud to be working with Innovate Finance on their Diversity Awards, helping to make that world a reality by encouraging, facilitating and celebrating every aspect of diversity in finance. The talent of tomorrow is looking to us to set an example now, and I’m extremely proud to be presenting the award to an organisation that’s doing just that.

Providing professional investors in startups, early stage and growth businesses Crowdcube enables entrepreneurs to showcase their business investment potential online and raise equity finance from a nation of ‘Armchair Dragons’. Listed as the ‘Most Active Seed Stage Investor’ of 2014 by Beauhurst, Crowdcube has funded 58 businesses and raised £29 million so far this year. Backed by Balderton Capital, the UK Government has also invested £5 million into London’s fast growth, seed-stage businesses within the technical, digital and science industries.

DIGISEQ Provides a range of products specialising in bespoke provisioning, to support owned devices DigiSEq was formed in 2014 by ex-MasterCard mobile payments experts, with a view to providing pioneering near field communications (NFC) provisioning services, for wearables. DigiSEq passionately believe in the growing market for wearable and mobile devices that enable consumers to undertake payments. Offering a range of market solutions which takes contactless payments beyond the card environment. The company’s mission is to make today’s innovations part of tomorrow’s daily use.

INFLUENTIAL VOICE IN FINTECH The winner of this award is an organisation that has become a thought leader in the FinTech space, and in doing so has increased the understanding and value that FinTech adds to the process of closing the socioeconomic divide.

GLI FINANCE Provides finance to small and medium-sized businesses throughout the UK and US GLI Finance’s business model is based on the premise of nurturing and financially backing SMEs within the FinTech community. Spread over 19 platforms, investment transactions reached 2,741 over 12 months, with the average loan value increasing by 409% YoY to £271,739. GLI Finance encourage their platforms to work collaboratively by cross-referring business and working together on cross-border deals, particularly deals that could not be financed by a solitary platform.

EDAID

SYNDICATEROOM

Provides access to community

Provides access to a network of

funding to help reduce the cost of

business angels offering a curated

Higher Education

and transparent approach

EdAid enables students to borrow interest-free loans from the community as an alternative to borrowing from the government or banks, where traditional rates are in excess of 6% APR. Through EdAid, students repay their loans at 10% of their post-graduation salaries. EdAid’s proprietary technology facilitates this process by pushing the repayments back to all supporters until the debt is repaid. EdAid has also built a sister company called QardHasan. com - the world’s first Sharia-compliant, Islamic student

SyndicateRoom is an equity crowdfunding platform for investing in UK startups, allowing investors to ‘piggyback’ on the experience and knowledge of those with exclusive access to UK SMEs. SyndicateRoom recently launched a programme called ‘Investors Academy’ to arm investors with the tools needed to make informed early-stage investments. To encourage content for ‘Investors’ Academy’, SyndicateRoom has formed strategic partnerships with top-tier law firms, such as Taylor

lending platform.

Wessing and accountancy firm BDO.

FINTECH CIRCLE Provides access to a network of business angels, offering funding, expertise and contacts FinTech Circle works with the most innovative and disruptive brands in FinTech. FinTech Circle is a global community consisting of 3,500 FinTech entrepreneurs and investors, plus innovators from financial services, technology and telco firms. FinTech Circle recently launched ‘The FinTech Book’, the first globally crowdsourced book, consisting of 190 submissions from 27 countries within the FinTech sector.

KATE STEPHENS CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SMART WORKS

t Smart Works we are passionate about diversity in the workplace. We strongly believe that organisations are at their most powerful and influential when they truly reflect the society of which they are a part of.

Every day, across London and throughout the UK we are privileged to see the impact that securing economic independence has on the women we support back into work. Our clients represent everything we mean by diversity, and often require the confidence to step back in to employment after overcoming challenges many of us will fortunately never face. Smart Works gives women the confidence to believe in themselves and the future they deserve. Forward thinking organisations, committed to recruiting people from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience provide the opportunity for that belief to be translated into reality. Our workplaces are richer, stronger and communicate more authentically with the world as a result.

FINTECH GLOBAL CHAMPION The winner of this award plays a role in both growing the knowledge society and reducing the ‘digital divides’ between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities. The company does this with technology that enables customers to engage internationally, and supports the integration of the global information society.

PRODIGY FINANCE Provides community funded loans to talented international students at top business schools Prodigy Finance announced the launch of a $25 million ‘Education Note’ in partnership with the Credit Suisse Impact Investing and Microfinance team. The development was initiated at the 2014 Global Impact Forum in Zurich. The new bond – first of it’s kind – focuses on investment in higher education, in particular the world’s best MBA programmes. Prodigy Finance’s successful peerto-peer lending model offers affordable loans to talented international students at top business schools via funding provided by a community of alumni and other investors.

CITI

WORLDREMIT

Provides a broad range of financial

Provides an online payment service

services and products to consumers,

allowing people to send money to

corporations and governments

over 120 destinations

Citi hosted a ‘Global Mobile Challenge’ - a series of challenge demo days providing a dynamic forum for 82 finalists from over 100 countries. During the challenge, judges evaluated solutions as finalists competed for an opportunity to take their technologies into production with Citi’s support, also earning a share of $100,000 in cash awards, and a suite of services from ‘Citi Mobile Challenge’ sponsors. The challenges were held in EMEA, Asia, North and Latin America.

WorldRemit is the world’s leading mobile-centric money transfer service. A pioneer in mobile-to-mobile remittances, WorldRemit lets people send money anytime, anywhere – quickly and at a low cost. It is a convenient alternative to traditional money transfer companies that use high street agents and charge unreasonable fees and particularly useful for migrants and ex-pat workers to send payments - they simply access the WorldRemit service from their computer, smartphone or tablet.

KATY TURNER CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, TECH CITY UK

s the UK continues its ascent to the top of the global innovation pecking order, the growth of the digital industries continues to drive diversity of opportunity. From facilitating anyone who wants to be an entrepreneur to start up, to enabling businesses to scale internationally and the trading of digital products across borders, we are at an inflection point when it comes to the range of platforms we can utilise to turn our ideas into a reality. The work of Tech City UK is all about creating diversity of opportunity and unlocking potential. We democratise access to the vital skills needed to become an entrepreneur with our Digital Business Academy, as well supporting technology clusters across the UK - each with their own unique cultural and historical diversity - to grow via Tech Nation. From new business models and innovative technical solutions, to disruptive supply chains and the use of technology for regeneration, digital innovation is bringing greater diversity and opportunity into the world. It encourages many different types of people to pursue many different types of dreams. This proliferation of ideas is key to our success as an industry and we will continue to work with the ecosystem to encourage its evolution across the UK.

ENCOURAGER FOR SME GROWTH

IWOCA Provides flexible credit to small businesses across Europe

The winner of this award has taken steps to help the quality growth of SMEs within the FinTech community by encouraging industry collaboration for productivity improvements, nurturing talent for the SME sector and creating an impact on the efficiencies within business infrastructure.

iwoca is transforming business lending throughout Europe by offering fast and flexible access to credit to the millions of small businesses neglected by the banks. It’s innovative proprietary risk engine draws on thousands of data points to make faster, fairer lending decisions, allowing iwoca to offer small businesses up to £50,000 within minutes. With over 5,000 transactions since their launch in 2012, iwoca is one of the fastest growing credit providers in Europe.

CROWDSHED

SYNDICATEROOM

Provides new funding opportunities

Provides access to a network of

by connecting and supporting every

business angels offering a curated

person in the crowd

and transparent approach

CrowdShed provides online funding platforms, helping others to develop new businesses and raise capital to fund projects and enterprises. Bringing together rewards, donations, equity and income producing based funding opportunities, Crowdshed offers a more holistic mentoring approach through events held at ‘The Shed’ workspace. CrowdShed is active in promoting those businesses raising funding online, making the process more efficient and transparent. Crowdshed aims to raise the profile of the industry and collaborate with other funding platform

SyndicateRoom is an equity crowdfunding platform for investing in UK startups, allowing investors to ‘piggyback’ on the experience and knowledge of those with exclusive access to UK SMEs, SyndicateRoom recently launched a programme called ‘Investors Academy’ to arm investors with the tools needed to make informed early-stage investments. To encourage content for ‘Investors’ Academy’, SyndicateRoom has formed strategic partnerships with top-tier law firms, such as Taylor Wessing and accountancy firm BDO.

providers.

GLI FINANCE Provides finance to small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and US GLI Finance’s business model is based on the premise of nurturing and financially backing SMEs within the FinTech community. Spread over 19 platforms, investment transactions reached 2,741 over 12 months, with the average loan value increasing by 409% YoY to £271,739.04. GLI Finance encourage their platforms to work collaboratively by cross-referring business and working together on cross-border deals, particularly deals that could not be financed by a solitary platform.

SHARON COLLARD PROFESSOR OF PERSONAL FINANCE CAPABILITY, THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

s someone who’s been active in research and policy since the 1990s, I’ve seen first hand, the importance of partnership and collaboration to improve people’s access to responsible financial services. We’re now seeing a radical changing of the guard, with the rapid rise of new firms working with and within the FinTech sector.

This brings exciting new opportunities to change the financial services landscape for the better – as well as challenges to make sure the benefits are enjoyed by as wide a range of people as possible. So coming together to learn from the past, learn from each other, and most of all understand what works for ordinary consumers, is more important than ever. That’s why it’s fantastic to see collaboration and partnership formally recognised in the Diversity Partnership Award. In my own work, it’s been great to see FinTech firms getting involved in research, policy and practice, in events and discussions with NGOs, government departments, universities and think tanks. And we’re delighted that the Open University is working with Innovate Finance as its education partner, to develop online learning to help us understand how financial services are being transformed by evolving digital technologies, new players and innovation.

DIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

OSPER Provides a prepaid debit card for young people, with a mobile banking

The winner of this award will recognise the collaboration between two or more organisations that have collectively encouraged and promoted diversity and education within the FinTech ecosystem.

app for the family Osper partnered with MyBnk to host a ‘Build a Bank’ workshop aimed at highlighting young people’s views on the future of youth banking. The results were presented at the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2015. Young people aged 11-18, came together to discuss their ideas around banking - the resulting sentiment was that young people need ‘simple, transparent and more rewarding’ banking. Discussions around co-delivery and co-creation of Osper’s ‘Build a Bank App’ workshop to larger audiences are currently underway.

FINTECH CIRCLE

ZOPA

Provides access to a network of

Provides low-rate loans and high

business angels, offering funding,

interest returns through a peer-to-

expertise and contacts

peer lending service

Susanne Chishti, Founder of FinTech Circle, had a goal - to create an international brand linking global FinTech ecosystems of investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders and influencers, all those enthusiastic about the growing FinTech sector. Susanne supports diversity by mentoring female-led tech initiatives, ‘10 Digital Ladies’ and ‘Entrepreneur Academe’. Susanne was recently recognised in the ‘100 Women in FinTech’ publication by Innovate Finance.

Peer-to-peer lending pioneer, Zopa, announced a partnership with leading challenger bank, Metro Bank, to lend milliosns of pounds through Zopa’s online marketplace. This innovative deal is another milestone for both Zopa and the P2P industry, and marks the first of its kind in the the retail banking sector - a clear indicator that Zopa is a trusted platform for fund deployment by consumers and institutions alike.

IWOCA Provides flexible credit to small businesses across Europe iwoca signed a strategic partnership with Alibaba this year, which enables small businesses to purchase products from suppliers and distributors operating in China, India, Pakistan, United States and Thailand. This new partnership will make it simpler for small businesses to buy goods from China, allowing them to finance the large upfront payments required by suppliers. This groundbreaking partnership looks to serve as a rolemodel to the broader trade finance industry.

DAN JONES PROGRAMME DIRECTOR INNOVATION LAB, NESTA

esta is the UK’s innovation foundation – a charity which helps people bring new ideas to life for the benefit of all. Diversity is at the heart of what we do. Diversity drives innovation. Whatever problem you’re trying to solve, it’s only when you bring together different ways of looking at it that you escape from groupthink and old answers, to find genuinely new responses. The FinTech sector is a great example of new actors launching disruptive business models that established players generally can’t or won’t. Even at a smaller scale, diversity is key. When people come together from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, the interactions and clashes between their different perspectives can create genuinely new insights and ideas. Innovation is also critical for diversity and inclusion. Tried and tested approaches and steady progress on e.g. race or gender equality are no longer enough, if they ever were. We need radical new models to step up the pace of change. As part of this, Nesta promotes innovations to help more people take part in, benefit from and shape the economy – especially those whose chances are currently limited. In particular, we have a growing body of work in the field of alternative finance and financial inclusion.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE – DIVERSITY CHAMPION The winner of this award is an organisation that has made significant impact in tackling the diversity agenda across the board. The winner will be voted for throughout the course of the week by our social media followers in the FinTech community.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Innovate Finance is proud of the talent that makes up its membership organisation. Together our member companies are delivering new ideas, solutions and innovations to improve the financial services sector and to promote greater social inclusion for everyone. Our diversity awards celebrate these leading lights in FinTech and showcases the vision and innovation that is doing the most to promote diversity in the workforce and to extend reliable and competitive financial services that are accessible to everyone.â&#x20AC;?