Fintech for good in the South West

“Ethical Equity is an online investment platform that champions and supports startups and scaleups that are looking to deliver social, environmental and cultural change,” explains founder Ali Kazmi. The investment platform has an E-Impact criteria to provide underserved entrepreneurs with a chance to pitch to investors that align their values with the mission of any given startup and scaleup on Ethical Equity’s database.

The idea for Ethical Equity arose from Ali’s work in UK Venture Capital schemes in the last decade. He couldn’t ignore the stark displays of inequality and biasness around him, appalled at how some demographics of founders weren’t, and still aren’t, receiving fair access to capital. Ali tells us that between 2009 and 2019, ethnic minority entrepreneurs only received 1.7% of capital. Within this 1.7%, black entrepreneurs received 0.24% and black female entrepreneurs within that 0.24% received only 0.02%.

LOQBOX supports customers where other products can’t, giving them the tools and credit score they need for the borrowing they want. Financial exclusion is a major problem globally, with billions of people unable to access basic financial services. For many, this is a catch-22 because if they’ve never had credit they can’t build a credit history.

If you need help raising your credit score, LOQBOX is the place to turn to. Their credit building service allows you to create a credit score through making monthly savings and reporting this back to major Credit Referencing Agencies. The idea is to reclaim power back to the consumer – decide the amount you can afford to save in a year (from £20 minimum monthly payments to £200 maximum) which is locked away in a LOQBOX. Then pay off their digital token over 12 months, building a credit score as you go, whilst saving towards your desired target.

Moneyhub is all about Open Banking and Open Finance. The company was founded on the frustration of how difficult it was for consumers to access and interact with their financial data and so the team set out on a mission to improve financial wellbeing. The Moneyhub app allows users to access all their accounts securely in one place, covering pensions, mortgages, loans, investments, savings, properties and current accounts, to name a few.

Last year, Moneyhub announced its largest investment to date, securing $18m to grow their reach across Europe. Commenting on the raise, Sir Peter Wood, British entrepreneur and innovator, who leading the investment round via a newly formed investment vehicle SPWOne, says, “Open Finance is a permanent technological revolution, fundamentally changing the way businesses interact with their customers. I believe Moneyhub is an outstanding innovator led by a strong management team and is well positioned to become a global leader in the open finance space.

Payaca is an innovative financial technology company which has created a digital job management platform that helps service and trade-based businesses streamline operations and deliver first-class customer service. 

In our Startup for 10 feature of the company, founder and CEO Matt Franklin tells us, “It’s a multi-sided platform creating value for all sides. We’re helping smaller independent businesses to compete with their larger competitors. We’re helping their customers by providing fast, fair and simple access to capital to invest in their property. We’re helping lending partners by providing access to attract customers.” 

The fintech startup also recently secured investment from Blackfinch to expand their reach. 

Roqqett’s ambition is to simply make payments better: for consumers, retailers and anyone who needs to pay or get paid safely and securely. Most of the card payment systems people use daily were invented 60 years ago, they think it’s time for an upgrade.

When using Roqqett, retailers keep more of the money they make as they offer much lower fees than any competitors. In their Startup for 10 feature, founder & CEO, Glenn Smith says, “Yes we’re saving people money, but it’s so much more than that – we want to turn payments on their head: there are no terminals that merchants have to buy and they’re not locked in. For consumers, you can see all of your money in one place, no matter who you bank with. You can pay friends and buy goods and services, including making secure payments in shops from two metres away.”

Stratiphy is an investment app that lets you build trading strategies according to your risk profile, industry preferences, and sustainability criteria. It lets you see the historic performance of your selection, and gives clear instructions of what to buy and sell. You can create multiple strategies and run scenarios without any coding, using real time market data as well as environmental, social and governance ratings (ESG) to compare companies.

The Silicon Gorge finalists have attracted impressive attention. Co-founders Daniel Gold and Nikki Hawkes celebrated overfunding their crowdfunding campaign, hitting the £200k target after just two hours.

Back in 2020, Daniel and Nikki set out to work on their belief that investing like the 1% shouldn’t require a financial advisor or high net worth status.

Tumelo is a purpose-led financial technology company that helps personal and pension investors to have a positive impact with their investments. Tumelo was founded in 2017 by CEO Georgia Stewart, Product Lead William Goodwin and Tech Lead Ben King with a vision for all pension and retail investors to create and benefit from a more sustainable investment system.

Tumelo began as they recognised a global problem: Millions of ordinary people contribute to our investment system through ISAs, workplace pensions, and other investments, yet most have no visibility over where their money is going.

Georgia tells us more: “We strive to achieve this vision by partnering with progressive investment and pension providers, enabling them to provide their customers with transparency over the companies they own and a shareholder voice on issues they care about, such as gender equality or climate change.”