The programme concluded with a Demo Day in Glasgow on 30 April, when the 15 fintech finalists showcased their innovative solutions in front of professional services firm Deloitte, and financial institutions including Tesco Bank, Morgan Stanley, Virgin Money and abrdn who had all contributed by providing use cases for this call.

Five winners were selected as grant recipients, each awarded up to £50,000 to further develop and implement their innovative solutions.

The winners are:

• Amiqus – One of the UK fastest growing fintechs, revolutionising identity checks
• HAELO – Helping senior risk managers demonstrate individual accountability.
• Level E Research – Using AI to improve buy side Compliance surveillance and potential investment decisions.
• DX Compliance – Using AI to improve Buy Side Compliance surveillance processes.
• Pytilia – Building AI applications for buy side Compliance surveillance requirements.

This funding will enable these companies to refine their technologies following insights from industry. These innovations will support the sector in increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of compliance processes to drive better customer outcomes.

The challenge attracted participation from fintech companies located in Scotland, the UK, and around the world with applications from countries such as Singapore and Canada.

The focus of the initiative has been on streamlining regulatory processes within the financial sector through advanced technological solutions. Participants underwent a three-phase programme that included challenge definition, solution design and testing, and final demonstrations. This structure provided participants with critical insights into the operational needs of financial firms, facilitated by direct collaboration, academic expertise, and service design support.

The FRIL initiative is part of the larger Glasgow City Region Innovation Accelerator programme with Glasgow, one of three pilot regions’ sharing a £100 million investment aimed at transforming R&D within the UK. The programme is led by Innovate UK, supporting the UK government’s levelling-up agenda.

Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland, said: “I am proud to see the extraordinary level of collaboration demonstrated across our fintech cluster through this first innovation call.

“The engagement among industry leaders, academic scholars, and public sector representatives at the Demo Day gives me confidence that our cluster delivery approach can drive real impact and continue to help us deliver our ambition set-out in our Fintech Research and Innovation Roadmap. I’d like to thank and congratulate all those involved.”

Mark Cummins, at University of Strathclyde, commented: “At the University of Strathclyde we are proud to be part of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab, responsible for grant award funding to successful fintech applicants in our Innovation Call series.

“The innovative thinking and insight our grant award winners from Amiqus, DX Compliance, HAELO, Level E Research and Pytilia have shown makes them deserving winners of FRIL’s first innovation call on Simplifying Compliance through AI and Emerging Technologies.

“Our team look forward to supporting each proposition develop throughout its technology roadmap and we are excited about the potential for real industry led innovation that may help reduce the amount of current manual interventions required when addressing regulatory obligations.”

Joanne Seagrave, head of regulatory affairs at Tesco Bank, said: “Tesco Bank have been thoroughly impressed by the enthusiasm, innovative thinking and support we’ve received during the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab’s innovation call on Simplifying Compliance through AI and other Emerging Technologies.

“We’ve seen a high quality and diversity of fintechs involved and many of the solutions presented closely match the objective we set of streamlining compliance with regulatory developments. This has advanced our understanding of AI as well as offering practical new solutions.

“We’re thrilled that HAELO have been successful in this innovation call and see huge potential for our sector in their proposition.”

Antony Brookes, head of UK investment compliance at abrdn, said: “Our team at abrdn have been invested in the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab’s innovation call. We have relished the opportunity to engage with a number of innovative fintech companies we would not normally get access to.

“Their thinking and propositions on Demo Day itself were hugely insightful and have proven that AI does have a place in addressing some of the challenges we face across our industry when it comes to reporting.

“We are delighted that Pytilia Ltd, DX Compliance Solutions and Level E Research who worked on our abrdn use case have been successful in obtaining grant award funding and look forward to collaborating and supporting their innovation to help enhance surveillance capabilities and ensure a more accurate and tailored approach to regulatory compliance within the asset management sector.”

Angela Benson, head of Glasgow finance at Morgan Stanley, said: “The team at Morgan Stanley have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab’s first innovation call on Simplifying Compliance through AI and other Emerging Technologies.

“It’s these types of collaborations that will drive our fintech industry forward – from interacting with the participating fintechs to hearing different industry perspectives throughout the calls on the set days we gathered together, including the breadth of innovative thinking we heard on Demo Day.”

Rob Sharp, digital sales manager at Virgin Money, commented: “Being a leading use case strategic partner with FRIL has been a fantastic opportunity to see the passion and expertise shown by the cohort of fintechs the programme has brought together.

“The event showcased a range of potential AI solutions and emerging technologies, which are key areas of focus within Virgin Money’s digital strategy.

“Amiqus’ proposition really resonated with the challenge we set, and we are excited to be collaborating with them on the opportunities their innovative idea creates to help further improve our customer experience.”