Our fintech research programme has been underway for over 3 years and we are now tracking the performance, financing and valuation of more than 1,000 fintech startups in the UK. The research provides some unique insights into the development of the fintech sector in the UK and covers.

  • Financing
  • Valuation
  • Investor returns
  • Survival rates
  • Exits
  • Financial performance
  • Employment
  • Founder shareholdings
  • Investor types and trends e.g. angel, corporate etc.

A summary of the research can be downloaded here:

The UK Fintech Sector: An In-Depth Analysis of Fintech Start-Ups from 2009 to 2020

Fintech Case Studies

We have also developed a collection of nearly 100 short case studies on companies from the research study, a selection of which you can download here from the links below. The cases shown here illustrate several different types of fintech with a range of financing and performance profiles.

From this group of cases, only TransferWise and iwoca are breaking even (in both cases achieved in the 7th year of operation) while Monzo, Onfido, Cytora and Modulr are increasing losses as they rapidly expand their businesses.

Ratesetter, Ezbob and Nutmeg are examples of companies that have faced challenges of different sorts. Ratesetter was rescued in 2020 by Metro Bank, Ezbob has pivoted to a B2B strategy but is still struggling to reach break-even, and Nutmeg has growing and substantial losses even after 9 years of operating.

  • TransferWise
    Founded in 2012, TransferWise provides money transfer and payments services. The company is making profits and is now valued at over £4bn.
  • iwoca
    Founded in 2012, iwoca is an SME lender. The company made a small profit in its 7th year of operation and is valued at approximately £300m.
  • Monzo Bank
    Founded in 2015, Monzo is a digital bank which is has gained around 5 million customers and is valued at over £1bn.
  • Onfido
    Founded in 2013, Onfido provides identity verification services for digital onboarding. The company is valued at approximately £310m.
  • Cytora
    Founded in 2014, Cytora supplies data analytics and machine learning technology to insurance companies and is valued at c£92m.
  • Modulr
    Founded in 2016, Modulr is a payments-as-a-service provider which has raised £52m and is valued at c£118m.
  • Ratesetter
    Founded in 2010, Ratesetter is a consumer lending marketplace which was acquired by Metro Bank in 2020.
  • Ezbob
    Founded in 2012, Ezbob provides technology and services to SME lenders and has raised c£33m.
  • Nutmeg
    Founded in 2011, Nutmeg is a digital wealth manager which has raised £121m and is valued at c£219m.