Fintech start-up ZIPZERO relocates to Scotland seeking ‘most fertile land for UK tech’
Fintech start-up ZIPZERO has relocated its headquarters from London to Aberdeen, as it looks to leverage the region’s thriving tech scene to drive its expansion.
The company has made significant strides with its AI-based consumer-and-advertiser platform – bringing together both groups for a financially empowering relationship. By crowdsourcing paper and digital receipts directly from consenting consumers, ZIPZERO not only helps consumers optimise their spending and lower their household bills but also offers marketers an advanced AI tool that identifies target consumers and informs marketing strategy.
ZIPZERO boasts over 200,000 UK app users and has been prolific in shaping discussions on the cost-of-living crisis.
Scotland, particularly Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, has become a hotbed for UK tech talent, with over 850 high-growth tech businesses, according to research firm Beauhurst. Meanwhile, FinTech Scotland has recorded a 27% increase in the number of fintech companies operating from the country since 2021.
ZIPZERO’s CEO, Mohsin Rashid, commented: “Scotland is the most fertile land for UK tech. There are a number of programmes driving growth in the tech sector, and the connection between industry innovators and academia is particularly strong.
“This has all helped to create a thriving tech community; ideas are easy to share, inspiration is readily found, and people are excited by the prospects of innovation – we’re very excited to be here.”
This positive environment has been buoyed by the Scottish Government’s £60 million investment into its tech ecosystem, which includes a £42m grant to Edinburgh-based Codebase to develop seven new tech scale-up hubs across Scotland, one of which, Techscaler, ZIPZERO was recently accepted into. ZIPZERO has also received advisory support from Scotland’s national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise.
Leah Pape, head of high growth services at Scottish Enterprise, said:“Supporting the development of innovative digital scale-up businesses is very important to the Scottish economy. That supportive environment and access to Scotland’s deep pool of tech talent were important factors in ZIPZERO’s relocation.”
ZIPZERO has positioned itself at ONE Tech Hub in Aberdeen, the Techscaler hub for northeast Scotland. ONE Tech Hub is one of Opportunity North East’s (ONE) transformational projects, designed to bring together entrepreneurs, founders, innovative businesses and support organisations so that they may learn, work and grow together.
Karen O’Hanlon, director digital tech at ONE, commented: “ONE Tech Hub is a focal point for digital tech start-ups and provides ambitious tech founders and entrepreneurs in northeast Scotland access to an exceptional range of support.
“ZIPZERO has joined our growing digital tech community at ONE Tech Hub and I look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the years ahead. With ONE support, including networking opportunities at ONE Tech Hub, ZIPZERO have the prospect to scale within the region, as the Northeast tech sector continues to grow and strengthen its reputation, nationally and internationally, becoming a leading designation for tech startups.”
“The region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the support that’s available, not just from Opportunity North East, but across our partner networks, provides unique support and networking opportunities in Scotland for ambitious founders with disruptive tech from any sector looking to accelerate their growth.”
Since relocating to Aberdeen, ZIPZERO has already taken advantage of some of the country’s most exciting opportunities. It was asked to attend Turing Fest this week, where it will be showcasing the first commercial application of its AI-powered consumer data platform – a live insights dashboard for the retail sector. This comes as it has successfully been accepted to the Google Startups programme.