A female-led Coventry-based FinTech has fended off competition to be named KPMG UK Tech Innovator 2025 at the national final.
Inicio AI, which is spearheaded by CEO and co-founder Rachel Curtis, will now represent the UK at Web Summit in Lisbon in November at the global final after winning the prestigious award.
The victory comes off the back of the company鈥檚 high-profile win in the OneToWin pitch competition at Birmingham Tech Week in October, as well as a successful 拢2.6m funding round in April.聽
The company has developed Budgie AI – a tool using conversational AI and aiming to support consumers financially.
It also supports them with an assessment process which does not require the need to speak to a human.
This is said to allow organisations to gain a more accurate understanding of their customers鈥� financial situations, all while costing lenders a lower amount than a traditional assessment.聽
The company claims that the organisations it works with are seeing results such as a 60% increase in payment amounts, combined with a 50% reduction in agent and consumer time to complete the process.
Budgie also delivers elements including seamlessly checking if consumers are missing out on benefits or financial support.聽
Recent studies show that the total amount of unclaimed benefits is 拢22.7bn per year as many people are unaware of the help available, but Inicio has already identified millions of pounds in missed potential income for people in debt through the rich data collected by Budgie.
鈥淔rom nearly 200 applications to 8 regional heats and one unforgettable national final, this year鈥檚 KPMG UK Tech Innovator in the UK competition has been a celebration of the UK鈥檚 boldest, brightest and most brilliant tech talent,鈥� said Kieran Waterhouse-Benfield, marketing manager at KPMG UK.
鈥淒elivering this campaign has been a real privilege, and a reminder of just how much innovation, ambition and resilience exists across the UK鈥檚 start-up ecosystem. I鈥檝e laughed, I鈥檝e learned, I鈥檝e lived in spreadsheets鈥� and I wouldn鈥檛 change a thing.
鈥淗uge congratulations to our national winner, Rachel Curtis from Midlands-based Inicio AI! – your clarity, purpose and potential blew us away.
鈥淎nd to our incredible judging panel – James Osborn, Michael Green, Jean de Fougerolles, Martin Bremner, Sue Daley OBE, Thomas Olszewski, and returning champ Henrietta Boyd. Thank you for your insight, rigour and good humour throughout.
鈥淭his campaign has been a team effort from start to finish – and I鈥檓 so proud of what we鈥檝e delivered.
鈥淪pecial shout out to the amazing Emerging Giants team for their support throughout, but especially the wonderful Hazel Panter, who quite frankly, I couldn’t have done it without.鈥�
The competition has been running since 2013 and has uncovered innovative tech from businesses including What3Words, Inovus Medical and 2022 global winner HiiROC.
Boyd, who returned as a judge, won last year鈥檚 national competition with her Hull-based EnviroTech Halocycle.
Another victor for 2025 was Amy Whitell from Manchester-based , who won the People鈥檚 Choice Award, whilst London-headquartered OnePlan and DRIFT Energy, which is based in the South West, were joint runners-up.
On the win, Curtis added on LinkedIn: 鈥淲ow! Still pinching myself that Inicio AI was named KPMG UK Tech Innovator 2025 last night after an intensive competition with awesome tech companies from around the country!聽
鈥淔ab to share the moment with some of my fave KPMG ladies Sarah Abrahams, Amy Burnett and Nicole Lowe.
鈥淗uge thanks to Patrick Molyneux and Richard Potter for fantastic pitch guidance and thanks to the whole KPMG team for a super event!聽
鈥淣ow to prep to represent the UK in the global finals later this year!鈥�
techUK president Sheila Flavell CBE receives honorary doctorate