UK Trade & Investment South Africa (UKTI) kicks off an inward mission to London for some of South Africa’s best fintech companies later this month.UKTI is working with South African technology accelerator Sw7 (Start with Seven) to promote the UK as an investment location for South African companies seeking to internationalise and invest in overseas markets.
UKTI and Sw7 are helping a group of high-growth South African companies, all looking to expand their footprint to the UK, to attend Innovate 2015 in London on 9 and 10 November. This event will bring together over 3,000 high-potential companies, international investors, government and academia. As the largest multi-sector showcase of UK innovation, it provides SMEs with exclusive opportunities to make the connections The mission is led by the SW7 team, who work with over 150 South African technology businesses. They also run acceleration programmes for Standard Bank and are the prime partner for Microsoft’s global Bizspark Plus in Africa.
Sw7 is a combination of a community, a network, a performance management process, a curriculum with content to guide businesses, and offers structured and unstructured programmes. They run the largest technology start-up LinkedIn Group in Africa.
South Africa has a diverse emerging market economy with a global leading financial services sector. The businesses and skills that come out of this ecosystem are world-class. The participating South African companies have achieved significant traction in their respective sectors and have the background, experience and vision to create and launch global leading products.
The UK is the best fit for these companies with investment in financial technology (fintech) growing faster in the UK than anywhere else in the world. The UK’s financial services industry continues to offer a number of compelling reasons for overseas firms to invest, including the UK’s expertise and skills base, its robust legal and regulatory framework, its liquid capital markets, its transparency in financial reporting and its geographic position and language.
UKTI is pleased to provide support to this innovative group of South African companies to facilitate knowledge sharing with the UK’s thriving technology industry, and to help look for opportunities for collaboration and expansion.
The mission represents a good cross-section of the fintech industry in South Africa. The services and products cover areas ranging from employee loyalty programmes, adolescent tech-teaching tools, and business process improvement systems, to bulk messaging platforms, database management and customer feedback solutions.
