SE / Fintech Scotland

Vivolution conducted several stakeholder SME discovery insight sessions and quickly identified the pressing need for an NI to create and organise: -

• Help for Fintechs to navigate complex investment / funding channels and international routes-to-market, which several Fintechs have no experience of.
• Vivolution's structured approach of working as an integrated commercial team to deliver specific outcomes which the Fintechs and founders would have found challenging to achieve on their own.

• Vivolution organised for ten qualified fintech scale-ups to visit IBM's Southbank Head Office in London and to have an interactive session with IBM FS architects and client executives as well as London based VC's and FS Institutions.
• Vivolution identified the need to prepare Fintech’s to be Procurement (Enterprise) Ready before engaging with FS Institutions.
• Vivolution identified the need to develop a thorough justification for a strategic project for SE/FinTech Scotland to support a cluster of fintechs landing in the USA for 12 months.

• Engaging with over 200 Fintech's and over 25 large FS Institutions and making 600 connections and referrals within the ecosystem.   
• The IBM invite-only event enabled the Fintechs to seek insights to global FS challenges which the IBM team were permitted to share.
• The Fintechs could then enhance their value proposition, customer segmentation and alternative ways of monetising their innovations (and to create more profitable businesses). 
• The 5 key themes of the Procurement / Enterprise Ready exercise focused on

i) proposition / market positioning ii) business & team iii) legal / regulatory / commercial iv) information security / data protection v) technology / legacy systems / APIs

• The US fintech cluster model requires support by FinTech Scotland strategic partners and the creation of a Fintech Scotland North American Advisory Board (made up of Global Scots). This was a 'real-world' commercial proposition to deliver high-growth and measurable outcomes for the fintech, strategic partners, SE, FinTech Scotland and Investors.
• Seventeen investment clinics were provided with tailored investment / funding support packages along with a detailed funding roadmap published on the FinTech Scotland and Vivolution web sites.
• 20 investment showcases were published on the FinTech Scotland and Vivolution web sites.
• A 75-page report was published for SE / FinTech Scotland on the fintech ecosystem and a further detailed paper on recommendations for a fintech cluster builder model to provide ‘real-world’ commercial outcomes.

Phase 1: As a Fintech Venture Builder; Vivolution is developing a new value-add business model with industry partners to support Fintech Scale-ups to be Enterprise, Investor and Talent Ready; and to help prepare the fintechs to organically grow their businesses with a hybrid virtual model across international markets as a Fintech cohort, working intimately with FS Institutions, Global Technology Partners and Investors.

Phase 2: Giving every consideration to the 'new normal' and COVID-19; Vivolution is shaping a business model to attract international Fintech's (incl. London based) to land in Scotland with a hybrid physical and virtual presence built around securing the best talent, bespoke market insight projects, securing investment, infrastructure support and routes-to-market / connections; enabling Fintech's to leverage the growth of their business in the UK & Europe more rapidly and with greater opportunity to be successful.