37 UK firms named in Europe’s top 50 financial tech companies

The UK has come out on top in the FinTech 50, a list of the 50 most disruptive companies in the financial technology sector.

Compiled by a panel of industry experts including head of ventures at Octopus Investments Alex Macpherson and Nick Ogden, founder of business banking start-up CashFlows, the list recognises both new and existing European firms that are “re-defining the future of finance” through innovative technologies.

FinTech 50, which consists of emerging technologies, such as mobile payments devices, currency exchanges and investment platforms, has named 37 UK-based companies.

Among the home-grown firms recognised in the list are crowdfunding platforms Crowdcube and Seedrs, which were named in the 2011 Startups 100 and the 2012 Startups Top 20 respectively.

They are joined by Startups Top 20 firm iwoca, a loan provider for sellers trading on eBay and Amazon, and international currency platform Transferwise, founded 2012 Young Guns Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Käärmann.

UK mobile payments device firm mPowa also made the list, joined by Swedish competitor iZettle and Dublin-based SumUp.

Along with emerging businesses in the FinTech space, more established firms including payments solutions firm Aconite, mobile payment analytics company Bango and commodity software solutions firm Brady were also recognised for their continued innovation.

The full list was as follows:

1. Aconite Technology

HQ Location: London, UK

2. Ayondo

HQ Location: Frankfurt, Germany

3. Bango

HQ Location: Cambridge, UK

4. Basware

HQ Location: Espoo, Finland

5. Borro

HQ Location: London, UK

6. Brady

HQ Location: Cambridge, UK

7. Calastone

HQ Location: London, UK

8. Cashflows

HQ Location: Cambridge, UK

9. Celoxica

HQ Location: London, UK

10. Clear2Pay

HQ Location: Brussels, Belgium

11. Crowdcube

HQ Location: Exeter, UK

12. CurrencyFair

HQ Location: Dublin, Ireland

13. Dovetail Systems

HQ Location: London, UK

14. Duedil

HQ Location: London, UK

15. EToro

HQ Location: Limassol, Cyprus

16. FFastFill

HQ Location: London, UK

17. Fidessa

HQ Location: Woking, UK

18. Fidor Bank

HQ Location: Munich, Germany

19. Fixnetix

HQ Location: London, UK

20. Funding Circle

HQ Location: London, UK

21. Gocardless

HQ Location: London UK

22. Holvi

HQ Location: Helsinki, Finland

23. Interactive Investor

HQ Location: London, UK

24. IWOCA

HQ Location: London, UK

25. Ixaris Systems

HQ Location: London, UK

26. iZettle

HQ Location: Stockholm Sweden

27. Klarna

HQ Location: Stockholm, Sweden

28. Kurtosys

HQ Location: London, UK

29. MarketInvoice

HQ Location: London, UK

30. miiCard

HQ Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

31. Mi-Pay

HQ Location: Woking, UK

32. MPOWA

HQ Location: London, UK

33. Murex

HQ Location: Paris, France

34. Nutmeg

HQ Location: London, UK

35. Pensions First Analytics

HQ Location: London, UK

36. Perseus Telecom

HQ Location: Dublin, Ireland

37. Seedrs

HQ Location: London, UK

38. Semafone

HQ Location: Guildford, UK

39. SmartStream

HQ Location: London, UK

40. Sumup

HQ Location: Dublin, Ireland

41. TBricks

HQ Location: Stockholm, Sweden

42. The Currency Cloud

HQ Location: London, UK

43. Thunderhead.com

HQ Location: London, UK

44. TransferWise

HQ Location: London, UK

45. Vega-Chi

HQ Location: London, UK

46. Vizolution

HQ Location: Port Talbot, Wales

47. VocaLink

HQ Location: Rickmansworth, UK

48. Wonga

HQ Location: London, UK

49. WorldFirst

HQ Location: London, UK

50. Zopa

HQ Location: London, UK

The FinTech 50 announcement comes as Europe's largest FinTech accelerator Level39 opens its doors in Canary Wharf.

Established by the Canary Wharf Group, the programme aims to provide growing financial technology firms with the space to create, test and market their products and services.