The new report, funded by Trethowans, Dorset LEP and BCP Council through the UKSPF, is the output of a project completed in partnership with FinTech West, with engagement from a range of stakeholders from across the ecosystem.
It was launched at a FinTech West showcase hosted at Bournemouth University’s Fusion Building, an event which was opened by Professor Alison Honour (Vice Chancellor & CEO) and featured speakers from some of the region’s FinTech ecosystem including Vitality, Just Move In, Twenty7tec, Passenger, Ratio, and Crowdfunder.
The report finds Dorset to be a growing hub of FinTech activity, with the number of FinTech firms up 32% since 2023, and now standing at 37. It highlights regional strengths spanning sub-sectors such as Payments, Lending, WealthTech and InsurTech, reflecting the wide ranging capability of firms within Dorset.
The data in the report shows the region is performing strongly in terms of gender diversity, with 46% of FinTech firms having a female director, and 27% having a female founder. Diversity is a widely acknowledged as an area requiring improvement across UK FinTech, but Dorset compares favourably with other regions Whitecap has analysed.
Additionally, seven FinTechs with their HQ in Dorset have raised more than £25m over 34 equity funding rounds. These numbers will soon be boosted further, because Just Move In, which has been responsible for more than half of the funding raised, announced at the launch event that it has just closed a further equity funding round and will be confirming details soon.
