By 
The Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) has awarded £50,000 grants to five Scottish fintech firms to support the development of solutions aimed at strengthening operational resilience, regulatory agility, and security across the UK financial services sector.
The funding follows a six-week innovation programme that paired fintechs with major financial institutions, including NatWest, Morgan Stanley, M&G, and Tesco Bank. The selected companies—Profylr, Ionburst, HAELO, Continuity2, and Lupovis—were chosen for their approaches to addressing critical industry risks.
The initiative is a collaboration between FinTech Scotland, Supertech West Midlands, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Strathclyde. Each recipient is developing tools to help financial institutions enhance risk management and regulatory compliance. Profylr uses AI to convert regulatory data into predictive insights, while Ionburst focuses on securing cloud data through dynamic classification. HAELO automates global regulatory horizon scanning across hundreds of regulators, Continuity2 provides an integrated platform for business continuity and incident response, and Lupovis delivers real-time cybersecurity intelligence through deception-based threat detection.
FinTech Scotland chief executive Nicola Anderson said operational resilience remains central to maintaining trust in financial services, adding that FRIL is helping accelerate innovation to reinforce the UK’s financial ecosystem.
During the programme, participating firms worked alongside industry partners including KPMG, EY, and Sword Group to refine their solutions for real-world deployment. Grant recipients will continue collaborating with these partners as they scale their technologies. HAELO founder Mick O’Connor described the programme’s customer engagement sessions as highly valuable, while Ionburst co-founder Anne Lanc said it provided critical insight into institutional challenges and solution fit.
Building on the programme’s success, FRIL has opened a new innovation call focused on the future of wealth support and financial advice, inviting fintechs across the UK to apply.
Separately, Dutch payments company Mollie has agreed to acquire UK-based fintech GoCardless in a transaction valued at $1.1 billion. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by mid-2026 and will create a combined payments provider serving more than 350,000 businesses.
Under the agreement, GoCardless’s bank payment technology will be integrated into Mollie Connect, allowing merchants to accept card payments, local payment methods, and bank transfers through a single platform. Founded in 2004, Mollie operates across more than 30 European markets and has expanded into seven new countries over the past year.
GoCardless reported £126.8 million in revenue for FY24, a 38% year-on-year increase, and recently appointed former Worldpay executive Shaun Puckrin as chief product officer. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Mollie’s open banking capabilities while accelerating its European expansion.
Together, the funding awards and the proposed acquisition underscore continued momentum in the UK and European fintech sector, as innovation investment and consolidation drive advances in payments, compliance, security, and financial infrastructure.
Comments