Former chancellor joins £1bn fintech fund
Former chancellor Philip Hammond has joined the advisory board of a new £1bn fintech fund aimed at promoting the UK’s financial technology sector.
The fund – which has been provisionally named the Fintech Growth Fund – was first mooted in last year’s Kalifa Review.
The report’s author, Sir Ron Kalifa, said that a £1bn fund could “act as the catalyst in developing a world-leading ecosystem”.
“With a £2bn fintech growth capital funding gap in the UK, many entrepreneurs prefer to sell rather than continue to build their promising company,” his report said.
“There is £6trn in UK private pension schemes alone, a small portion of which could be diverted to high growth technology opportunities like fintech.”
Read more: Ron Kalifa to lead development of new fintech centre
It is believed that the fund will operate independently from the government, and will seek to raise capital from institutional investors. Sky News has reported that Barclays, London Stock Exchange Group and Mastercard have all been approached about providing small amounts of seed funding.
Hammond was chancellor between 2016 and 2019. Since leaving the Treasury, he has become involved with several fintech and cryptocurrency businesses.
Last year he joined Mayfair-based crypto custodian firm Copper.co, and he was named as a key investor in digital finance provider Algbra last September.
Insiders told Sky News that plans were being assembled for an announcement about the fund’s launch as soon as this autumn.
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