Slaughter and May has launched a £300,000 fund that will see the elite City firm give free advice and support to up to ten UK-based new and emerging fintech businesses.
The Fintech Fast Forward programme, which is being led by Slaughter and May’s head of technology and outsourcing Rob Sumroy and financial institutions partner Ben Kingsley, will formally launch on 17 November. Any UK-based start-up or scale-up business operating in fintech and similar fields, including insurtech, regtech, datatech and blockchain/distributed ledger technology may apply.
A consultative panel of leading legal and industry professionals including Mike Lynch, CEO of Invoke Capital (pictured on the home page); Trevor Callaghan, general counsel of DeepMind Technologies; Ophelia Brown, general partner at LocalGlobe and Sigga Sigurdardottir, chief customer and innovation officer UK at Santander, will help the firm to identify businesses that stand to benefit most from the programme.
Each business accepted into the programme will be eligible to receive £30,000 of value add services such as legal advice and guidance from experts at the firm, access to model legal documentation, as well as network access and tailored one-to-one coaching on topics such as pitching, presentations, people management, communications and negotiation.
“We created Fintech Fast Forward because we recognise the depth of talent which exists in the UK’s entrepreneur population, and now more than ever we need to nurture that talent. A number of the firm’s most active clients first came to us as promising entrepreneurs and we hope that many of the entrants to this programme will have the potential to go as far”, said Sumroy.
“Slaughter and May’s Fintech Fast Forward programme is intended to help young fintech businesses fulfil their potential. I’ve worked with Slaughter and May for many years now and I’m confident the firm can provide a significant boost for any ambitious business which is accepted into the programme”, said Lynch.