A Norwegian fintech company is set to establish a technology hub in Edinburgh following a £225,000 Regional Selective Assistance (RSA) award from Scottish Enterprise.
EedenBull will become the latest addition to Scotland’s fintech sector, creating 20 jobs in the process. The technology hub will support the development of the company’s products and services for the digitisation of banking services and transactions.
Head-quartered in Oslo, EedenBull already has a presence in London, Dubai and Singapore. The company has set-up base in Edinburgh’s Exchange Place business district and is now operational in Scotland.
The RSA award announcement was made during a visit to EedenBull’s new offices in the Capital by the Scottish Government’s Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation, Ivan McKee MSP. Speaking after the visit, Mr McKee said: “I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit EedenBull to hear about its plans to develop new and innovative fintech services.
“This £225k Scottish Enterprise RSA grant will help support their innovative work and support business growth. We have a growing fintech sector, with an increasing number of companies now operating in financial services across the country.
“This makes Scotland an attractive location for business investment for companies like EedenBull, where they will find dedicated support from our enterprise and skills agencies like Scottish Enterprise.”
Established in 2018, EedenBull aims to deliver new, innovative payment solutions to global consumers, companies and organisations. The company aims to collaborate with banks to leverage new technologies that make it easier, safer and cheaper to pay and get paid.
Nicki Bisgaard, Co-Founder and CEO of EedenBull, said: ‘’New regulations, new technologies and new players are forever changing the way consumers and businesses think about payments.
“At EedenBull we want to drive change and develop new and innovative payment services. After very careful consideration we chose Edinburgh as our global technology hub. Access to talent, a thriving fintech scene and governmental support made that an easy decision.’’
Scotland has a burgeoning fintech ecosystem, with more than 100 companies now operating in financial services across the country. In 2019, there has been 13 start-up fintech companies formed in Scotland, with ten overseas fintech firms setting up a base in Scotland over the past 18 months.
Industry leaders and partners have targeted Scotland becoming a top five global fintech centre by 2020.
Mark Hallan, Director of Global Investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “This £225k RSA award for EedenBull reinforces Scottish Enterprise’s commitment to make Scotland a global leader in fintech innovation and development.
“Scottish Enterprise is a key stakeholder in supporting the growth of fintech in Scotland. It is our job to encourage further investment and strengthen the sector’s international competitiveness and increase market opportunities.
“Providing support to entrepreneurially-minded international companies, such as EedenBull, to attract them to Scotland is a major priority for Scottish Enterprise as part of our Strategic Framework. Scottish Enterprise looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with EedenBull as the company develops its presence in Scotland.”
Scottish Enterprise worked in partnership with FinTech Scotland to attract EedenBull to Scotland. FinTech Scotland develops and enables collaborative innovation across the fintech ecosystem by facilitating and encouraging connections between key stakeholders.
FinTech Scotland’s CEO, Stephen Ingledew, added: “EedenBull is leading the way in making life easier for customers through their innovative fintech solutions, and we are delighted to welcome this world leading team to the FinTech community in Scotland.
“This is another example of the fast-growing global interest in the dynamic fintech community and cluster being developed in Scotland embracing our collaborative and inclusive approach to innovation.”
Approximately 161,000 people in Scotland are employed in financial and related professional services, with the growth of Scottish financial services industry recently outstripping London.
