FinTech Scotland, the industry body encouraging the growth of the country’s fintech sector, has selected its winners of its ‘Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services’ innovation call.
The FinTech Scotland innovation call aims to tackle critical data and technology challenges to enhance the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors in the financial services sector.
This initiative launched in June 2024 as part of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), an industry-led collaborative research and innovation programme made in partnership with the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow.
Twenty fintechs were chosen to advance their solutions in partnership with 10 ‘Industry Challenge Partners’ and universities. During a three-month process, teams collaborated closely with industry professionals developing and showcasing their innovations in the field of ESG.
Challenge Partners for this initiative included Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Phoenix Group, abrdn, HSBC, Virgin Money, EY, Sopra Steria, and Equifax. These firms worked collaboratively to identify seven key challenges where innovative solutions could drive meaningful impact.
Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland, commented: “The response to the ‘Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services’ innovation call has been outstanding. The level of engagement from both the fintech community and our Challenge Partners highlights the importance of collaboration in driving meaningful change. We are excited to see how the winning solutions will shape the future of ESG in financial services.”
FinTech Scotland selected eight winners to receive funding to further develop their proposals. Moving forward, these fintechs will continue to refine their solutions with ongoing support and collaboration with industry and the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab.
Your winners are…
Gaialens: A Greenwashing Analytics Solution enabling investors to assess the greenwashing risk of funds and companies.
Scott Logic: A B Corp focused on addressing data quality and reliability in greenwashing.
Siccar: Secure solution architecture with a focus on reliability and resilience of ESG data.
ESG 360: An AI-Driven Platform using existing ESG Reports to produce a gap analysis for regulatory compliance that provides full audit capability.
Ciendos: Delivering environmental data that underpins financial flows and validates environmental claims.
ESG Disclose: An AI powered platform that offers AI-powered analytics, customised integration, real-time monitoring, and collaborative tools.
Verifoxx: A data query engine enabling Industry to query the dataset of an investee/ borrower/ asset, to gain visibility on verified financed emissions.
TexpertAI: An AI and data analytics platform specialising in social sustainability focusing on human capital, rights, as well as labour standards within the workforce and supply chains.
Tom McFarlane, partner at EY, congratulated the winners and said: “The winners of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab’s ESG innovation challenge showcases the groundbreaking thinking that is critical to tackling today’s sustainable finance challenges.”
Future initiatives on the way
FinTech Scotland, SuperTech (West Midlands), University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow and eight industry collaborators have also announced the next innovation challenge from FRIL aimed at enhancing consumer outcomes with technology and data is currently live.
This new challenge involves Industry collaborators from NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group, Equifax, PwC, Barclays, Tesco Bank, Secure Trust Bank, as well as Dudley Building Society. It focuses on consumer duty outcomes and also invites fintech firms from across the globe to apply by the 25 October 2024. Successful applicants may be eligible for grant awards of up to £50,000 to further develop their solutions.
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