Innovate Finance
Innovate Finance is the industry body for financial technology in the United Kingdom and calls itself the voice of UK fintech. The independent membership organization was formed in London in 2014 with money from the City of London Corporation and Canary Wharf Group. Its members range from seed-stage startups and fast-growing fintechs to multinational banks, big tech firms, investors and fintech hubs around the world.
Innovate Finance represents its members toward ministers, members of Parliament and regulators and answers consultations on financial regulation. It runs programs on investment, talent, diversity and international trade, and it organizes UK FinTech Week with the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London. Every year Innovate Finance also publishes figures on fintech investment in the UK and worldwide.
Membership for startups, scale-ups and institutions
Innovate Finance sorts its fintech members into three categories by the stage of their company. The startup category is for pre-seed and seed-stage firms, scale-up membership is for Series A fintechs with revenue and funding below £10 million, and high-growth membership is for fintechs above that line. All of them get invitations to events, free tickets for the Innovate Finance Global Summit and the FinTech as a Force for Good forum, a profile in the member directory and policy webinars.
Further categories exist for incumbent financial institutions and policymakers, for partners and vendors, for investors and for fintech hubs. Innovate Finance also offers separate memberships for RegTech UK and the Digital Pound Foundation, the groups for regulatory technology and for a digital pound.
CEO, team and history
Janine Hirt is chief executive of Innovate Finance and has led the organization since 2021. Janine Hirt joined the first leadership team in 2015, first as head of community and then as ecosystem director, and she became chief operating officer in 2017.
The City of London Corporation and Canary Wharf Group funded the start of Innovate Finance in 2014. The founding chief executive was Claire Cockerton of the consultancy Entiq, which led the design and launch of the organization, and Lawrence Wintermeyer took over in 2015. Charlotte Crosswell led Innovate Finance from 2017 until Janine Hirt followed her in 2021.
FinTech Investment Landscape
The FinTech Investment Landscape is the yearly report of Innovate Finance on venture investment in fintech. The edition for 2025 counts $53 billion of global fintech investment, 21 percent more than in 2024. The United States led with $25.1 billion, followed by the UK with $3.6 billion and India with $3.4 billion, and payments raised the most capital of all sectors, both worldwide and in the UK.
The largest primary round of the year was a $2 billion deal for Binance, while Revolut placed $3 billion in secondary market transactions. Investment in UK fintech in the second half of 2025 was 11 percent higher than in the first half of the year.
Upcoming finance and fintech events in Europe
UK FinTech Week and the Global Summit
Innovate Finance organizes UK FinTech Week, a week of fintech events in London. Its flagship conference is the Innovate Finance Global Summit, known as IFGS, which brings financial institutions, founders, investors and public officials to Guildhall in the City of London. Fintech hubs from other regions and countries take part in the week through the hub membership of Innovate Finance.
Women in FinTech Powerlist
The Women in FinTech Powerlist is an annual list of women in fintech and financial services that Innovate Finance has published since 2016. The 2024 edition named about 230 women in eight categories, from senior leaders and rising stars to investors, policymakers and technology professionals. The list belongs to the diversity work of Innovate Finance, which also includes Pride in FinTech and a talent program with a careers fair.
Policy work and FinTech as a Force for Good
The policy work of Innovate Finance covers consultation responses, reports on emerging trends, a FinTech Strategy Group and meetings with ministers, members of Parliament and regulators. Innovate Finance co-chairs the International FinTech Group with the Department for Business and Trade, and a UK US Forum connects the fintech sectors of both countries.
Under the name FinTech as a Force for Good, Innovate Finance runs a forum and work streams on financial inclusion, financial wellness and the cost of living crisis. A net zero working group covers climate questions, and Innovate Finance has committed itself to net zero by 2050 at the latest.
Address in London
Innovate Finance has its office on the fifth floor of 2 Throgmorton Avenue in London EC2N 2DG, in the City of London. The organization is registered in England and Wales as Innovate Finance Limited with company number 09007658.
Innovate Finance and Finance Loop
Fintech founders, investors and banks in Germany ask the same questions as the members of Innovate Finance: where growth capital comes from, how regulators treat new payment and lending models and how fintechs and banks work together. Finance Loop discusses these questions at its events and in its Investment & Digital Assets track.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.