UK: Sharing economy insurance provider Pikl has qualified as one of 31 fintech and insurtech companies to have been chosen for this year’s cohort.
This is the first year that insurtech companies have been eligible for the Fintech programme. In recognition of the impact Pikl has made to the industry over the last three years, founder and CEO, Louise Birritteri, has also been invited to join the Tech Nation Board.
Fintech 3.0 is a growth programme run by Tech Nation for the best and brightest UK fintech and insurtech companies. It is designed to provide company leaders with the coaching, content and community that they need to scale up, bringing together a network of purposeful founders and philanthropists, progressive enterprises and policymakers, influential funds and institutions, in order to collaborate in building the technological innovation that will improve the future for the UK and beyond.
Now in its third year, it was the first sector-specific growth programme that has been run with the two previous years’ programmes having proved to be immensely successful.
Tech Nation’s aim is to fuel the growth of game-changing founders, leaders and scaling companies so they can positively transform societies and economies.
The majority [around 80 per cent] of its funding comes from the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport [DCMS], which in 2019 was £7.1 million. The rest is generated from sponsorship and paid-for educational programmes.
Birritteri said: “We are delighted to have been selected. The competition to get on the Fintech 3.0 programme is fierce with hundreds of companies applying.
“This programme will definitely help us to scale up rapidly to take advantage of the growing market for sharing economy insurance. There is a great deal of value to be gained from it especially getting to access to mentors who have been successful in scaling their businesses, expert training, invitations to join government trade missions and building our profile nationally and internationally.
“I can’t wait to get going and to be invited to join the Tech Nation Board is a real privilege for which I am truly grateful,” she added.
Pikl is one of only two companies from the east of England to have been selected and the only one in Norfolk.
Liam Gray, programme lead, Fintech, said: “The UK’s fintech ecosystem is world-leading, and, as it matures further, we are seeing a growing amount of fintech scale-ups. These companies have already achieved some incredible things and are targeting accelerated growth both domestically and internationally.
“Tech Nation’s Fintech programme supports companies like these to connect with other fintechs at a similar stage, learn from experts and expand their network. It’s a unique and valuable opportunity to learn in an open and intimate setting,” he added.
Tech Nation’s mission is to unlock the growth potential of 1,000 scaling tech leadership teams across the UK by 2022.
Over the past five years, Tech Nation programmes have engaged nearly 2,000 businesses, including 600 companies via its growth programmes, already contributing more than £425 million of Gross Value Add [GVA] for the UK economy. Last year’s Fintech programme cohort included Credit Kudos, PrimaryBid, Honcho Markets, ANNA Money and Goodbox.
To apply for the programme, companies had to fulfil certain criteria:
- Be headquartered in the UK
- Be a fintech or insurtech company
- Be at the equivalent of seed to Series A funding stage [if the company is self-funded, maximum annual revenues are £1.5 million. Companies having raised Series A can apply until a maximum of three months after they closed the round].
- Offer a product or service to businesses and / or individuals [B2B businesses must have at least one active client or pilot. B2C businesses must have a product fully deployed in market already – no beta].
