Barclays opens fintech co-working hub in London

Barclays has opened Europe’s largest financial technology co-working space in London.

Rise London – a space that brings together start-ups, Barclays corporate clients and other experts to inspire innovation in financial services – opened yesterday in Shoreditch.

Along with sites in other cities including Manchester, New York and Mumbai, it will help to develop new models, long-term financial solutions and relationships in communities and markets.

Rise London will house more than 40 fintech companies, along with banking and technology teams from Barclays, and will serve as a gathering place for fintech and venture capital leaders. It will host more than 200 hours of learning, workshops, hackathons and networking on a monthly basis.

“We believe that technology must be a core competency of a global financial institution, and we intend to be a leader in the industry,” said Jes Staley, Barclays Group chief executive, at its opening. “Last week we announced the creation of 750 new jobs in our UK technology centres.

“Fintech startups are at the front of the technology wave that is changing our industry. Through Rise, we glean important insights, we can actively experiment with emerging technologies and we can spot early trends and new markets as they form.

“This allows our employees, customers and clients to do things faster, better and at lower cost.”

Michael Harte, group head of innovation at Barclays, said the hub would provide an opportunity for businesses and experts to collaborate to solve financial problems with technology.

“Rise is an open innovation platform to engage fintech start-ups with customers and clients to invent new business solutions,” he said.

“Our vibrant community taps into the agile and disruptive nature of these ventures. By matching fintechs with the business challenges that we face as a diversified financial services firm, we drive customer and shareholder value.

“For us, the more vibrant we make the fintech community, the greater the value contribution to customers and shareholders as well as to the financial services sector as a whole.”

For more on Rise London, see the Barclays website.