The DIT Women In FinTech Global Initiative

The UK FinTech industry is thriving. More FinTech companies are here than anywhere else in Europe and digital tech companies in London are second only to Silicon Valley for international connections. With over 76,500 people working within the industry, and 17 of the top 50 FinTech firms worldwide based here, there is no better place to build your business.

The DIT Women in FinTech Global Initiative:

Brings together like-minded women working in the FinTech space, uniting those who want to bring their enterprises to the UK with those who already have.
Connects female entrepreneurs with a supportive investment community that understands the challenges that women face.
Provides valuable scaling guidance by working with accelerator programmes and business incubators to offer women support through their programmes.

Click the button below to find out out more:

FIND OUT MORE

Why the UK is the best place for innovation and collaboration

The UK has long been at the forefront of financial services and FinTech is no exception, in 2018 investors put more money into UK FinTech than any other European country. A strong eco-system supported by government, regulators and industry and the sector's response to the financial crisis has accelarated the growth of the sector in the UK. The UK government's current FinTech Sector Strategy aims to maintain the UK as the best place to start and grow a FinTech business - through supporting competion and removing barriers to entry and growth.

The UK's FinTech ecosystem is truly global, 42% of UK FinTech workers are from overseas, UK FinTechs are exporting more than ever and 25% of entrepreneurs across the world report having significant relationships with 2 or more entrepreneurs in London.

There are over 1600 FinTech firms in the UK, this number is expected to double by 2030 and 82% of incumbents expect to increase FinTech partnerships in the next three to five years indicating that the UK have a strong hold on their position as a leader in the FinTech space.

See full size image

Our Mentors

Our list of international female founders and co-founders’ mentors is growing. These are women who chose to start or scale their businesses in the UK and can offer the benefit of their experience and networks to aspiring female founders looking to do the same

	Sylvia Carrasco CEO & Founder Goldex Sylvia has had an interesting and diverse career in investment banking over the last 18 years which has seen her being part of the first team in Credit Suisse to develop electronic trading systems for Equities. She consequently moved to Man Financial where she helped set up and run the institutional electronic trading services. In 2008 she successfully founded the first FCA regulated firm to provide execution trading services to global institutional houses in multi-asset classes. With experience in the UK, Europe & India, she is one of the key market experts in electronic trading in multi-asset classes, with particular knowledge in equities and physical gold, as the founder of Goldex, the first marketplace for investment and trading in this commodity. Sylvia is passionate about helping early stage female FinTech founders to succeed and particularly interested in those at the idea or seed stage.

	Susanne Chishti COE & Founder FINTECH Circle & FINTECH Circle Institute, Co-Founder The FINTECH Book Series Susanne Chishti is the CEO of FINTECH Circle, Europe’s 1st Angel Network focused on fintech opportunities & Founder of the FINTECH Circle Institute, the leading fintech learning platform offering Innovation Workshops to C-level executives and online courses. She is also the Co-Editor of the Bestseller “The FINTECH Book” which has been translated into 10 languages and is sold across 107 countries, and The WealthTECH Book and The InsurTECH Book. She has also been a fintech TV Commentator on CNBC. Susanne is interested in all areas of FinTech investment and is particularly focused on the FinTech bridge markets of China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and South Korea. You can follow Susanne on Twitter and Instagram on @SusanneChishti.

	Sukhi Jutla Founder MarketOrders Sukhi Jutla is an award-winning entrepreneur, author of 3 books and co-founder of MarketOrders, an online marketplace for the gold and diamond jewellery industry. A sought after international speaker, thought leader and qualified IBM Blockchain Developer, she has won numerous awards including Asian Women of Achievement, Female Entrepreneur of The Year and named Top 100 European Digital Pioneer by The Financial Times and Google. In April 2018 Sukhi made global headlines becoming the World’s First #1 Bestselling ‘Blockchain’ Author. Named as a Top 100 Woman in Tech, Sukhi is a regular media commentator on tech, blockchain and digital disruption, having been featured in over 100+ UK and international press including Chinese and Spanish media. In 2019 Sukhi was appointed Board Member to the Mayor of Londons Digital Skills Partnership.

	Bindi Karia Founder Bindi Ventures Bindi has had a wide and varied career working in a whole gamut of roles with technology start-ups and Corporates: as a Consultant (PwC Consulting), a Corporate (Microsoft BizSpark /Ventures), a Start-up employee (Trayport), an Advisor (Startup Europe, Startup Weekend Europe, Tech London Advocates, WEF Digital Leaders of Europe), as a Banker (Silicon Valley Bank), and is widely known in the industry as a Connector given her vast Global network. She is the founder of a Boutique Advisory Firm where she sits on Startup Advisory Boards, advises Corporate Innovation Executives and Government Innovation Ministers, and finally she is a Venture Partner at a large London-based VC fund. Bind’s key focus is on UK and Europe but she also has a rounded knowledge of the North American and Kenyan markets as well.

	Felicia Meyerowitz-Singh Co-founder and CEO Akoni Hub Felicia is the CEO/co-founder of Akoni Hub, the automated Cash Marketplace which provides a range of cash tools including business and consumer productivity and cash savings tools. She has significant experience in high-growth Financial Services businesses and start-ups operating in the UK FCA regulated environment including at Alexander Forbes, Media Services and Primary Group & Howden. A Chartered Accountant (SA), Bcompt (Hons) Accounting and InfoSystems with an Executive MBA from London Business School (cum laude) Felicia has senior board-level experience including finance, operations, direct marketing to both SMEs and Retail, and as an FCA Approved Person / Controlled Function. Felicia has a deep knowledge of the UK market and regulatory regime and has experience of various markets having lived and worked in India, various countries in Africa and Argentina, amongst others. Felicia is passionate about supporting female entrepreneurs and founded Hive Founders, a voluntary founder-driven community that support female founders.

	Lisa Moyle Co-founder and Director of Strategy and Partnerships VC Innovations VC INNOVATIONS is a disruptive media start up that designs and builds communities, content and experiences for innovation industries. Through the creation of content led micro-events, industry events, large-scale tech festivals and digital platforms, we bring together ecosystems and stakeholders to explore how technology drives these industries’ digital transformation, supporting the creation of cutting edge and sustainable solutions. Previously, Lisa was director of strategy, fintech, at Informa where she established and led a portfolio of global fintech events and activity. She also worked at techUK, where she was head of the Financial Services and Payments programme and contributed to a broad range of policy initiatives in support of financial services innovation. Prior to that, she was programme director at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, a leading financial services think tank. She is also a regular contributor to the Banking Technology magazine and a commentator on the UK fintech sector. She also sits on the judging panels for the Banking Technology, PayTech and Growth Finance Awards. She is a co-founder of the Fintech Cocktail Club and sits on the Staffing Committee for Fair Finance.

	Catherine Wines Director & Co-Founder WorldRemit A qualified accountant, Catherine Wines co-founded WorldRemit in 2010, convinced that digital innovation would enable faster, lower-cost money transfers around the world. She has held leadership positions with both start-up and public companies and is a proven high achiever in developing business in UK, Europe and emerging markets including Africa and Asia. She is a regular speaker on industry panels and conferences and in the international media talking on issues from fintech and innovation to women in business. She is also the Pathway Leader for the Fintech Entrepreneurship Specialist Pathway at Cambridge Judge Launchpad and a board adviser to a Fintech for good company called beam.org. Beam supports homeless people through training and into rewarding work using crowdfunding.