Sectors
Professional & Financial Services
The financial technology sector is a priority for R&D Grant Funding across Europe.
Fintech’s can expect to be eligible for public funding to research and develop innovative solutions to address key regulatory challenges, improve the consumer experience of the financial sector and addressing environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Grant funding for Professional & Financial Services
We have been working with Fintech’s since 2008, winning many millions of £s and €s for founders who have conceived innovative solutions to key challenges in the financial services industry.
Public Funding for Financial Technology offers multiple benefits:
- Non-dilutive funding for Fintech allows founders to retain their equity.
- Grant funding supports early-stage and high-risk prototyping, testing and development work.
- R&D Grant Funding and Contracts for Innovation cover the costs of international partnerships and collaborative R&D across borders.
- R&D Grants for Fintech can be used to pay for staff wages, subcontractors and other associated software development costs.
- Grant Funding acts an independent validation of cutting-edge innovation that is solving real-world problems.
Funding in the UK
The UK Government has prioritised funding for the Professional and Financial Services sector with >£15bn allocated to supporting innovative SMEs through DSIT (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology), >£3bn funding for AI projects, and specific grant calls such as Innovate UK’s Professional & Financial Services Grant.
Funding in the EU
The EU has long prioritised the professional and financial services sector, including Fintech, for EU grant funding through schemes such as the EIC Accelerator, EUREKA Eurostars and Digital Europe Programme. With €100bn in R&D funding available through Horizon Europe, there is plenty of opportunity for Fintech grant funding in Europe.
Success Stories
AlphaLoops: IUK Smart Grant funding for exciting FinTech
AlphaLoops is a fintech startup transforming how asset managers handle compliance and due diligence. Their AI-powered “agentic co-pilot” automates the completion of complex documents like RFPs and DDQs — cutting processing time from 40 hours to under 5.
Total Funding: £307k
Financial technology themes for grant funding
Fintechs working on the following topics and challenges, could expect to benefit from R&D grant funding:
- AI and Machine Learning in Financial Services
- Financial Inclusion and Wellbeing
- Digital Identify and Fraud Prevention
- Product Intelligence
- Green and ESG Finance
- Open and Embedded Finance
- Quantum-Secure Fintech Infrastructure
- And other cutting-edge use cases for technology
Fintech funding programmes and funders
Fintechs are eligible for R&D Grant Funding, Innovation Loans, Contracts for Innovation Procurement and other forms of non-dilutive funding.
Available funding for Fintech, regtech, insuretech and other professional and financial service innovators include:
| Programme | Funder | Grant value | Stage | Who can apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK funding | ||||
| Thematic calls, e.g. Professional & Financial Services | Innovate UK | £100k–£500k | Feasibility to development | UK businesses |
| Innovation Loans | Innovate UK | Up to £5m | Late-stage, pre-market | UK SMEs |
| Growth Catalyst (formerly Investor Partnerships) | Innovate UK | Up to £2m grant + equity | Scale-up | UK SMEs with investor backing |
| European funding | ||||
| Eurostars | EUREKA | Varies by country | Collaborative R&D | SMEs in an international consortium |
| Globalstars | EUREKA | Up to €1.5m per project | Collaborative R&D | SMEs partnering with a non-European country |
| Network calls | EUREKA | Up to €2m per project | Collaborative R&D | Businesses in an international consortium |
| EIC Pathfinder | European Innovation Council | €1m+ | Early-stage research (TRL 1–4) | Consortia, incl. UK |
| EIC Transition | European Innovation Council | Up to €2.5m | Validation (TRL 4–6) | Single applicants or consortia, incl. UK |
| EIC Accelerator | European Innovation Council | €500k–€2.5m grant + up to €15m equity | Scale-up | SMEs (UK: grant only) |
| EIC Step-Up | European Innovation Council | Varies | Scale-up | Scale-up or small mid-cap stage |
| Collaborative calls | Horizon Europe | €1m–€20m+ | Collaborative R&D | Consortia, incl. UK |
| Other funding options are also available, including the Digital Europe Programme. Grant values are indicative and vary by call. | ||||
Winning Grant Funding for Professional & Financial Services
“We’ve been working with Fintechs and other SMEs in the professional and financial services sector since 2008. We understand the sector inside out, its technologies, use cases, and challenges. More importantly, we know which non-dilutive funding gives companies the best shot at success based on where they are in their journey – whether that’s early discovery, development, launch, or scaling.”
Alex Chalkley
Finance Sector Expert
Ready for the next steps?
We see grant funding playing a vital role at every stage, from startups developing prototypes, to scaling companies refining smart, automated solutions.
Ready to explore funding options? Book a no-obligation meeting now.
Want to stay in the loop?
Our quarterly newsletter keeps you up to date:
- Latest funding policies across the UK and EU.
- Deep dives on funders, grant calls and technologies.
- 5 open grants every quarter.
- Our ‘quick grant’ of the quarter, and much more…
Each email is short and practical, written by our grant specialists. Unsubscribe at any time.
