Barclays has made a firm commitment to its fintech efforts by launching an innovation suite in London, built as a co-working space to encourage businesses in the sector to develop ideas.
Called 'Rise', the space in Shoreditch is a multicultural office, bringing together various fintech companies from around the world in one place so they can bounce ideas off each other and perhaps make a success of their plans.
The suite also houses Barclays corporate clients and other fintech experts to help further the financial organisation's customer and business opportunities.
"We believe that technology must be a core competency of a global financial institution, and we intend to be a leader in the industry," Barclays Group chief executive, Jes Staley, said.
"Fintech startups are at the front of the technology wave that is changing our industry. Through Rise, we glean important insights; we can actively experiment with emerging technologies, and we can spot early trends and new markets as they form. This allows our employees, customers and clients to do things faster, better and at lower cost."
More than 40 fintech businesses will take part in the Rise London initiative, which forms part of the company's wider efforts in the fintech space. The company has already set up similar startup initiatives in New York, Manchester, Mumbai, Cape Town, Vilnius, London and Tel Aviv, comprising the Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars.
"Our vibrant community taps into the agile and disruptive nature of these ventures," Michael Harte, group head of innovation at Barclays, said.
"By matching fintechs with the business challenges that we face as a diversified financial services firm, we drive customer and shareholder value. For us, the more vibrant we make the fintech community, the greater the value contribution to customers and shareholders as well as to the financial services sector as a whole."
-
Enterprises face delicate balancing act with data center sustainability goalsNews High energy consumption, raw material requirements, and physical space constraints are holding back data center sustainability efforts, according to new research from Seagate.
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolenNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
Is Rishi Sunak’s ‘Unicorn Kingdom’ a reachable goal or a mere pipedream?Analysis Plunging venture capital investment and warnings over high-growth company support raise doubts over the ‘Unicorn Kingdom’ ambition
-
Some Tech Nation programs could continue after Founders Forum acquisitionNews The acquisition brings to a close a months-long saga over what the future holds for Tech Nation initiatives
-
Podcast transcript: Startup succession: From Tech Nation to Eagle LabsIT Pro Podcast Read the full transcript for this episode of the ITPro Podcast
-
The ITPro Podcast: Startup succession: From Tech Nation to Eagle LabsITPro Podcast Some small firms are already lamenting the loss of Tech Nation, but Barclays Eagle Labs has much to offer the sector
-
Don’t count Barclays Eagle Labs out just yet – it can deliver in ways Tech Nation never hasOpinion Tech Nation has a great track record, but Eagle Labs has the experience, the financial clout, and a clear-cut vision that will deliver positive results for UK tech
-
UK tech sector could face a ‘unicorn winter’ amid spiralling economic conditionsNews Tech Nation’s final piece of industry research calls for action to support continued ecosystem growth
-
"It's still not great": Industry divided on government's SMB tax relief packageNews The government’s handling of R&D tax credits has left SMBs with a “sense of disbelief”
-
UK startup's Equinix deal marks step towards broad quantum computing accessNews Businesses around the world will be able to use its quantum computing as a service platform through Equinix
