Irish funding fintech Swoop awarded €400k in global innovation competition

The Dublin-based company, founded by Andrea Reynolds and Ciaran Burke, was awarded €400k by Nesta’s 'Open Up Challenge'.

Commissioned by the UK’s Competition and Markets authority, the competition encourages innovation in fintech ventures to support small to medium firms in the market.

Having made the shortlist in the challenger during the summer, Swoop was initially awarded €120,000; later beating off finalists to claim a spot in the top three - and an additional €280,000.

The tech platform describes itself as a 'one-stop, money shop', supporting SMEs through information, saving and access to the funding landscape.

From March 2019, AIB and Bank of Ireland will join Barclays, Danske, Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest, RBS and Santander in sending their business customers via Swoop when switching business current accounts.

Swoop, which has closed over £6m in funding since its public launch 8 months ago, has a network of over 1000 funding providers, including traditional lending organisations, equity funds, grant agencies.

It recently closed its seed funding round this month, successfully raising €1m from Enterprise Ireland and a mix of entrepreneurs across Ireland and the UK.

Founder Andrea Reynolds said the award "not only highlights Swoop as a valuable product with impressive growth potential, but it solidifies its noble purpose of supporting SMEs to navigate the ever-changing and often-turbulent funding arena".

"The closure of our latest funding round has made 2018 an incredibly successful year and as we move into what promises to be an exciting new year for Swoop, we are proud to be at the forefront of open banking, creating additional opportunities for SMEs to connect with viable, necessary funding options to grow their businesses," she said.