London Is A True World Centre Of Fintech, Says Boris

London’s rapid development and adoption of financial technology is making the city a global centre for investment and opportunity, Boris Johnson has announced.

The Mayor of London has hailed the efforts of the city’s love for exciting new technology such as contactless payments, which have made the capital more attractive to investors than ever.

And in order to continue this growth, Johnson revealed closer links between London and Tokyo, as the Japanese capital prepares for the 2019 Rugby World Cup 2019 and 2020 Olympic Games.

Flourishing

“Londoners are embracing financial technology as the use of contactless on the London Underground and mobile payments used throughout the city shows,” Johnson said today.

“As our expertise flourishes in this area, I am delighted companies based in London are taking their goods to Japan and we are now sharing that knowledge and experience with our Japanese counterparts to further fuel this innovation and growth.”

Johnson revealed that Japanese companies have invested £115m in 19 UK tech start-ups in the last five years as part of a record £8bn during 2015, making the UK the favourite place in Europe, and second only to the USA, for Japanese companies looking to invest worldwide.

Five of London’s 14 tech start-ups with over £65m of total funding are in the fintech sector and the city has been growing start-ups into global brands, such as Funding Circle and WorldRemit. London also has one of the most talented work forces in the world, Johnson said, with more skilled fintech workers than areas such as Silicon Valley to support this rapid growth.

Overall, Japanese companies have invested over £14bn in more than 630 worldwide tech companies since 2010, which is by far the most popular industry sector by number of deals.

Capital

Mayor Johnson has been a major catalyst in helping London to become one of Europe’s leading technology hubs, playing a key role in helping establish the capital’s ‘Tech City’ in the east of the city.

Last week, data from London & Partners, which acts on behalf of the Mayor of London regarding investment and expansion, revealed that London’s technology firms have so far received £1bn in funding, including £320m in venture capital investment in the last three months.

This investment marks nearly three-quarters of the UK total of £1.4bn, which makes 2015 the most successful year yet, eclipsing last year’s figure of £1.3bn, and coming in at more than ten times more investment in 2015 than in 2010.

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