News and Insight - Wharf Life

Each year, I am excited at the prospect of UK Fintech Week (UKFW) – a week of activities dedicated to spotlighting innovation in financial services, industry-wide collaboration and the growth of a sector that has been pivotal to the development of our community here at Level39 in Canary Wharf.

This year, UKFW took place between 15-18 April, and I’d like to share my highlights for anyone considering engaging with this initiative in years to come.

We kicked off the week attending Innovate Finance Global Summit (IFGS), the flagship event of UKFW which this year celebrated 10 years of Innovate Finance – an independent industry body and voice of UK fintech, and long-term partner of Level39 since its launch here in Canary Wharf in 2014. The two-day conference boasts founder pitches, high profile keynotes and thought-provoking sessions. The session I am most in awe of is the launch of Project Nemo, led by Joanne Dewar – a pioneering disability inclusion initiative, urging the fintech industry to better serve the UK’s largest minority and accelerate disability inclusion efforts.

Across the week, we hosted FinTech Global for a session on ‘the global growth challenges for insurtechs in 2024’ at Level39, with speakers from Anthemis Group and Sentiance, discussing the industry impact of embedded insurance, AI integration and funding. We also welcomed the latest instalment of Pitchflix rev, where 15 investors pitched to 120 founders. I love this reverse pitching format as it provides founders with a forum to understand differentiated propositions and value beyond investment, with pitches from private equity, crowdfunding, venture capital and angel syndicates.

And as a fitting end to the week, we hosted Department for Business and Trade’s UK Fintech Showcase, convening delegates from over 15 countries, discussing the strengths of the London fintech ecosystem, the growth of regional fintech hubs across the UK, and export opportunities for fast growth fintechs looking at international expansion.

You can read our full round-up from the week and get in touch with the Level39 team online here (https://level39.co/uk-fintech-week-2024-round-up/).