Zopa, Banked and Smart Pension are among the winners at this year’s Fintech Awards London 2023, an annual celebration of fintech professionals and companies in London.

The Awards, organised by recruitment firm Recruit 121, returned for a second year following the success of an inaugural ceremony in 2022. Part of Fintech Week London, the annual Awards recognise the significant contribution made by the fintech sector to London and across the UK.

Winners were revealed at a celebratory awards night at The Underglobe, an amazing venue beneath the iconic cultural landmark of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the banks of the Thames in London on Wednesday 21 June 2023.

Julia Streets, founder and CEO of Streets Consulting, hosted this year’s Fintech Awards London which attracted guests from across the global fintech sector.

Peer-to-peer lending service Zopa, which launched in 2005 and gained a full banking licence in 2020, took home the award for Fintech Company of the Year, while London-based account-to-account payment software platform Banked was awarded Fintech Startup of the Year.

Gerard Grech, founding chief executive of Tech Nation and a long-standing adviser to the UK government on tech and digital policies, was also recognised for his personal outstanding contribution to the fintech industry at the Fintech Awards London 2023.

Tech Nation, which offered support for growing UK tech firms, impacted more than 5,000 businesses since its inception. With over 20 years in the tech industry, Grech has helped build hundreds of digital products throughout his career.

Matt Hyde, managing director at Fintech Awards London, said: “The Fintech Awards London is pleased to acknowledge some of the best-performing firms and individuals providing financial services for the UK. Gerard Grech has had a level of impact like few others on the London tech startup sector and greatly deserved recognition with this award for Outstanding Contribution to Fintech in London.

“The Awards recognise and celebrate the fintech companies and individuals making a difference in London and beyond. These awards spotlight those emerging and established tech companies and entrepreneurs helping millions of customers with their fintech products and services.”

Andrew Griffith MP, economic secretary to the treasury and City minister, has described the Fintech Awards London as “an important platform for showcasing the best and brightest in the fintech industry”.

“The government is committed to supporting the growth of this sector, and events like this help to raise awareness of the significant contributions that fintech companies are making to our economy.”

Fintech Awards London 2023 also attracted fantastic sponsors including Clockwise, Eversheds Sutherland, Peel Hunt, Cymru Wales, Evelyn Partners, Deloitte, The Fintech Times, Recruit 121, OpenPayd, CFIT, Innovate Finance and London & Partners.

Fintech Awards London Winners

Fintech Company of the Year, sponsored by Peel Hunt

Winner: Zopa
Highly Commended: ClearScore

Fintech Startup of the Year, sponsored by Clockwise

Winner: Banked
Highly Commended: Plend

Fintech Scale-up of the Year, sponsored by Cymru Wales

Winner: Allica Bank
Highly Commended: Salad Money

Fintech Leader of the Year, sponsored by Eversheds Sutherland

Winner: Nick Harding – Fluro

Highly Commended: Irfan Kahn – mmob

Fintech New Product of the Year, sponsored by Recruit121

Winner: Hi Group
Highly Commended: Equals Group

Fintech Advisory Firm of the Year, sponsored by The Fintech Times

Winner: Peel Hunt
Highly Commended: Chatsworth

Wealthtech Company of the Year, sponsored by London & Partners

Winner: Smart Pension

Paytech Company of the Year, sponsored by Deloitte

Winner: Boku
Highly Commended: OpenPayd

Rising Fintech Star, sponsored by CFIT

Winner: Alan Nagle – KYP
Highly Commended: Nida Sattar – Allica bank

Regtech Company of the Year, sponsored by Innovate Finance

Winner: Quantexa

Fintech for Good, sponsored by Evelyn Partners

Winner: FLOW GLOBAL
Highly Commended: Blackbullion

Insurtech Company of the year, sponsored by OpenPayd

Winner: FintechOS
Highly Commended: Floodflash

Outstanding Contribution to Fintech in London, sponsored by Recruit 121

Gerard Grech