FinTech Scotland Celebrates ESG Innovation Success

FinTech Scotland has announced the winners of the “Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services” innovation call. This initiative, launched in June 2024 as part of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow, aims to tackle critical data and technology challenges to enhance the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors in the financial services sector.

Challenge Partners for this initiative included Lloyds Banking Group, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Phoenix Group, abrdn, HSBC, Virgin Money, EY, Sopra Steria, and Equifax. The participating firms worked collaboratively to identify seven key challenges where innovative solutions could drive meaningful impact.

Twenty fintechs were chosen to advance their solutions in partnership with 10 Industry Challenge Partners and universities. Over a three-month Innovation Process, teams collaborated closely with industry professionals developing and showcasing their innovations in the field of ESG.

Eight winners will receive funding to further develop their proposals. These winners have shown significant promise in tackling the ESG challenges highlighted by the FRIL Industry Challenge Partners. Moving forward, these fintechs will continue to refine their solutions with ongoing support and collaboration with industry and the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab

The winners are as follows:

GAIALENS: Greenwashing Analytics Solution enabling investors to assess the greenwashing risk of funds and companies.

SCOTT LOGIC:  B Corp focussed on addressing data quality and reliability in greenwashing.

SICCAR: Secure solution architecture with a focus on reliability and resilience of ESG data.

ESG 360:  An AI-Driven Platform using existing ESG Reports to produce a gap analysis for regulatory compliance that provides full audit capability.

CIENDOS: Delivering environmental data that underpins financial flows and validates environmental claims.

ESG DISCLOSE: An AI powered platform that offers AI-powered analytics, customised integration, real-time monitoring, and collaborative tools.

VERIFOXX: A data query engine enabling Industry to query the dataset of an investee/ borrower/ asset, to gain visibility on verified financed emissions

TEXPERTAI: An AI and data analytics platform specialising in social sustainability focussing on human capital, rights, and labour standards within the workforce and supply chains.

Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland, commented:

“The response to the ‘Shaping the Future of ESG in Financial Services’ innovation call has been outstanding. The level of engagement from both the fintech community and our Challenge Partners highlights the importance of collaboration in driving meaningful change. We are excited to see how the winning solutions will shape the future of ESG in financial services.”