September saw Modulr open our first office outside of London and make our mark on Edinburgh's burgeoning fintech scene. The new office will enable us to grow our software engineering, customer support, risk and compliance, and finance teams. We're set to create over 30 new jobs in Scotland before the end of the year.
We recently completed our latest funding round, led by the UK’s leading digital venture builder, Blenheim Chalcot, which brought the total investment in our company to £10.5m since our formation in January 2016. The investment in Edinburgh is enabling key additional capacity and capability to support our significant growth.
We celebrated the launch with a series of events during Fintech Fortnight. These included hosting an exclusive panel discussion on scaling fintech businesses and speaking at the Fintech 2018 conference.
Growing teams for scaling fintech businesses executive event
We hosted a panel discussion on the evening of the 18th September to explore the talent challenges and strategies for going from start-up to scale-up. Our CEO, Myles Stephenson, was joined on the panel by four of his industry peers: Rob Devey, Chairman at Modulr and Advisory Partner at Blenheim Chalcot, NED Octopus; Jude Cook, CEO and co-founder at ShareIn; Jennifer Houston, Partner, Financial Services Advisory, IT Risk and Assurance at EY; Stephen Ingledew: CEO, at Fintech Scotland. The discussion was facilitated by Lisa Thomson, Founder of Purpose HR, Director for Scotland of Startup Grind, and Ambassador for Women’s Enterprise Scotland.
Topics addressed the changing nature of roles within start-ups as they scale, traditional and non-traditional ways of attracting the best talent, the need for diverse teams, the benefits of scaling a fintech in Edinburgh, the benefits of being a part of an ecosystem or community that supports business growth, and the opportunities presented by fintech more broadly,
Questions from the audience ranged from business topics, such as recruiting for diversity and maintaining culture as you grow, to wider political-economic topics, like Brexit.
The event was covered by Digit: Growing Teams for Scaling Fintech Businesses
Fintech 2018 conference
On the 19th and 20th September, we joined the best part of the local fintech scene at the Fintech 2018 5th Annual Financial Technology Conference in Edinburgh.
On the 19th and 20th September, we joined the best part of the local fintech scene at the Fintech 2018 5th Annual Financial Technology Conference in Edinburgh.
During the conference, our CEO, Myles Stephenson, hosted two break-out sessions, where he presented the opportunities provided by the significant upheaval in payments regulation, to over 200 people. He laid bare the jargon and acronyms related to the new regulation; addressed the 2nd Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and why it’s not all about Open Banking; explained the difference between Payment Institutions (PIs) and Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) and how they're delivering alternatives to business and corporate transaction banking; and answered questions related to Open Banking more broadly.
Coverage
We were delighted to see the overwhelming support from the local, business, payments, tech and fintech press. Our news was featured (in no particular order):
- Edinburgh Evening News (print)
- The Scotsman: Modulr taps into Edinburgh fintech scene with new office
- Insider.co.uk: Fintech rising star Modulr opens Edinburgh office
- UK Tech News: FinTech startup Modulr brings total raised to £10.5m
- PYMNTS: Robotics Process Automation Dwarfs The B2B VC Competition
- P2PFinanceNews: Payments firm Modulr expands to Edinburgh after raising £10.5m
- FStech: PayTech startup Modulr raises £10.5m
- Scottish Business News Network: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Specialist Banking: Modulr to create over 30 new jobs in Scotland
- Tech London: FinTech startup Modulr brings total raised to £10.5m,
- London Tech Watch: The London TechWatch Startup Daily Funding Report
- PaymentEye: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Bobsguide: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Entirely Scotland: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Fintech Finance: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Entirely Finance: Modulr brings total raised to £10.5m and opens new Edinburgh office
- Global Transaction Banking Directory: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- UK Live News: Fintech rising star Modulr opens Edinburgh office
- SNB: Payments firm Modulr expands to Edinburgh after raising £10.5m
- Fintech Log: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth
- Digit: Growing Teams for Scaling Fintech Businesses
- Global Banking and Finance Review: Modulr expands into Edinburgh fintech scene to fuel business growth.
- Invest Edinburgh: Modulr Expands Into Fintech Scene
- Payment Week: Modulr Takes A Step Into Edinburgh Business Mobile Payments Scene
- FINSMES: Modulr Receives Funding; Brings Total Funding to £10.5M
- Venture Canvas: Modulr Receives Funding; Brings Total Funding to £10.5M
- Credit Connect: Modulr expands into Edinburgh
- Fintech Roundup: Modulr receives undisclosed funding from Blenheim