Manchester鈥檚听reputation听as a prime location to start and scale a financial technology firm has been underlined by a Top 50 ranking within The Global Fintech Index (GFI) by听findexable.听
With cities ranked according to the success of individual firms and the ecosystem of their location, Manchester climbed 19 places in the 2021 index to secure 34th position in the rankings globally, ninth in Europe and number one in the UK outside London.听
The 2021 Global Fintech Rankings, powered by Mambu, identifies emerging hubs, FinTech companies and trends. The Index algorithm ranks the FinTech ecosystems of more than 264 cities across 83 countries incorporating data from听findexable鈥檚听own records and collated and verified by its Global Partnership Network, including Crunchbase,听StartupBlink, SEMrush and 60+ fintech associations globally.听
The index was first published in 2019 and has seen a huge uptake by the FinTech industry.听
The 2021 index includes 13 UK cities but only London and Manchester are home to the headquarters of 鈥楿nicorn鈥� companies, privately held start-ups with valuations over $1 billion. The wider Greater Manchester region is home to six unicorns 鈥� or 43% of the UK鈥檚 FinTech unicorns and more eCommerce unicorns than any city in Europe.听听
Birmingham entered the听findexable听rankings at 123,听while听Cardiff came close after at 127.听听
Providing an invaluable guide for financial institutions, investors, government agencies, advisors and FinTech firms themselves,听findexable鈥檚听Global Fintech Index is powered by data including key scale-up drivers such as availability of tech incubators, investment, access to talent and ease of doing business.听
Tim听Newns, CEO of MIDAS, Greater Manchester鈥檚 inward investment agency, said: 鈥淲e are delighted that Manchester鈥檚 growing global reputation as a significant FinTech hub has been recognised.听听
鈥淭his report not only looks at the quantity of individual FinTech firms but delves down into the success of both the FinTech companies themselves and the supporting ecosystem, the latter of which we believe to be key to firms鈥� success.听
鈥淐oupled with affordability, access to talent and brilliant quality of life, The Global FinTech Index by听findexable听provides clear evidence that Manchester is the best UK city to start and scale a FinTech business.鈥�听
Elise Wilson, Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) portfolio lead and deputy chair of Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to see Greater Manchester鈥檚 emerging strength as a hub for FinTech businesses recognised in this global index.听
鈥淥ur city-region鈥檚 digital economy is听thriving听and we can offer employers and founders in the sector all the ingredients they look for 鈥� liveability, great locations, access to the right talent and outstanding education providers to work with.听
鈥淔inTech is becoming increasingly relevant and important to our everyday lives, and we鈥檙e proud that some of the most exciting companies in the sector call Greater Manchester home.鈥�听
Findexable鈥檚听founder and CEO Simon Hardie, said: “Manchester’s ambition as a viable commercial alternative to London is increasingly more about substance than soundbite. A well-established tradition of digital and media activity has more recently inspired a听vibrant payments听and FinTech scene.听
鈥淭his and other factors like the city’s world-renowned universities and an enabling ecosystem supported by development agencies like MIDAS have helped power the city’s rise to the top of the UK and European FinTech rankings this year. It’s an exciting time to be in FinTech in the north of the UK.”听
Manchester is home to more than 80+ FinTech companies and the UK鈥檚 largest regional financial, professional and business services (FPBS) industry outside of London, employing more than 280,000 people.听
Specialising in payments, platforms, software and consumer finance, Manchester has recently seen听OakNorth, Adyen, Klarna and听MoneySuperMarket听expand into the city, complementing homegrown听FinTechs听including听AccessPay, Raisin and Nivo.听
An array of innovation hubs, accelerators and incubators underpin Manchester鈥檚 FinTech ecosystem, where start-ups, SMEs and larger firms converge, collaborate and drive innovation.听