Event showcases progress of technology-driven businesses

Media and digital special‑ ist Dentsu Aegis Network has joined forces with Fin‑ Tech Scotland to showcase in Edinburgh last night the “significant” progress being made by technology‑driven finance firms.

The event, held ahead of UK Fintech Week next week, welcomed guest speakers from companies across the sector, including lenders Ultimate Finance and Orca.

Last year Ultimate Finance lent record‑breaking sums to UK businesses, up 47 per cent on the prior year. Its chief executive Ron Robson said it has transformed from a traditional B2B lender into a thriving fintech company.

Orca is a peer‑to‑peer (P2P) lending specialist that recently opened an office in Edinburgh. The company, which raised £280,000 in seed funding last year and expects to launch a second funding round soon, is set to debut a new P2P invest‑ ment platform.

Fintech Scotland was born of a joint private and public sector initiative to become one of the world’s fintech centres.

Chief executive Stephen Ingledew said: “In Scotland, we have depths of experience in finance sector specialities, including banking, asset man‑ agement and insurance.”

He added: “Combined with Scotland’s rich technology ecosystem, which is under‑ pinned by coding expertise, the universities and a host of tech companies, makes it uniquely suited to creating a global hub of fintech.” 0 Fintech Scotland chief executive Stephen Ingledew