The Invest Northern Ireland team returned to the FTT Fintech Festival this year, joined by a diverse delegation of six companies showcasing innovative products and services for the financial services sector.
The delegation included:
FinTru, a member of a previous delegation, also joined the Festival this year.
What are the strengths of the Northern Irish fintech ecosystem?
We took the opportunity to speak with Karen Bradbury, Sector Lead – Financial & Professional Services and Paul Adams, Business Development Director, GB Investment, at Invest Northern Ireland to get their thoughts on the features of a strong and successful fintech ecosystem. Paul pointed to a strong skills pipeline in financial services and tech, a strong collaborative environment (supported by Invest NI) and the cost profile. Compared to major financial centres, such as London or Dublin, the costs of doing business are lower, as are related things like housing, which are important to the workforce.
What are the key drivers of growth of fintech in Northern Ireland?
Karen pointed to strengths in governance, risk, and compliance (regtech) as a key area of growth for the sector in Northern Ireland. As she noted, there is no aspect of the supply chain that isn’t covered, demonstrating what is a cluster of strength.
Insurance and capital markets have experienced strong growth in recent years and continue to be important areas of focus and one where Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has had a significant impact. Paul noted the expansion of embedded finance and digital payments as additional drivers of growth.
Listen to the full interview below to learn more about the companies in the delegation, the strength of the Northern Irish fintech hub, and the power of collaboration and connectivity, as well as the benefit of six degrees of separation shrinking to two degrees.
We look forward to seeing who joins the delegation in 2026 and to watching the community continue to go from strength to strength. The FTT Fintech Festival returns to London on 9th – 10th November 2026.
A year is a long time, for more innovative insight, mark you calendars for 18th March, and join us at FTT Lending and Future Identity Finance and FID Fraud & FinCrime.
