Nationwide seeks start-up action with £50m fund
Nationwide Building Society is launching a new £50 million fintech fund to support its future technology strategy and the society’s members.
Investments will focus on creating long-term partnerships with companies that can help develop products and services, which means delivering benefits to members over profits alone.
Nationwide claims that in the last year it has grown the number of its active mobile banking members by 44%, with 200 million more logins, which will be driving the aim of its investments – in spite of some occasional down time.
The first investment has been announced, and will see the proptech start-up acasa receiving an undisclosed amount of funding. Acasa is a home management platform which automates and streamlines the process of moving in, managing and moving on for the resident, utility companies and landlords. The platform will become a fully-fledged marketplace for households.
Tony Prestedge, Nationwide Building Society’s deputy CEO, says: “By investing in early stage start-ups, we can be at the forefront of helping develop innovative products and services that will benefit our members both now and in the future, allowing us to deliver our ambitious future technology strategy.”
As part of the investment, Nationwide will have a senior member of staff with relevant experience to provide support, guidance and expertise to the start-up.
There are seven main themes that the fund will be looking at: house and home; personal data and identity; financial wellness; communities and society; Banking-as-a-Platform; operational efficiency; and “new segments”.
