Tramshed Tech, the Cardiff-based co-working space, has partnered with Hodge and FinTech Wales, the not-for-profit association for the fintech and financial services industry in Wales, to launch the Fintech Wales Forum.

The three organisations will be working collaboratively on a series of events that will run throughout 2020, bringing together innovative start-ups and established businesses to develop solutions to common challenges.

Aiming to provoke discussions around some of these challenges, these events will provide potential solutions and support interaction between problem owners and solutions providers.

The first roundtable was held in January and focused on machine learning and bots and how these can help enterprises be more effective operationally. The second roundtable will be in March and they will be held bimonthly after that. Each event topic will be identified and coordinated by FinTech Wales, who will be using their own work and membership feedback to identify the priorities for this sector.

Mark Evans, chief technology officer at Hodge, explained the idea behind the collaboration:

“The aim is for FinTech start-ups and more established brands to foster relationships that may not have been easily formed in the past. We are already excited about the partnership opportunities and collaborations that will come from this.

“FinTech is such an exciting area – particularly in Wales – and Tramshed Tech is home to a lot of innovative start-ups. We’re hoping we can provide a forum where these businesses can benefit from the experience of the more established brands and vice versa. It’s something Hodge feels passionately about, and we are committed to making this a real stream of activity where real business challenges will be resolved.”

Mark John, principal and co-founder, Tramshed Tech, said:

“This is a fantastic collaboration which has the potential to bring about lots of exciting opportunities for businesses in the FinTech sector. We’re thrilled to be involved in this – as well as being a fellow Welsh company, Hodge has a hugely credible name in the world of financial services and, through its history, it has been responsible for a number of innovations in this market.

“FinTech Wales is leading the agenda for this sector throughout Wales as a community, so its involvement will be integral to the success of this collaboration. We have worked hard behind the scenes to develop events and activities that we think will benefit smaller start-up businesses in the FinTech sector, as well as the more established brands.”

Gavin Powell at FinTech Wales, the not-for-profit association for the FinTech and financial services industry in Wales, added:

“One of the driving ambitions for FinTech Wales is to embrace community and work together to create new digital innovations. We’re delighted to be involved in this collaboration that’s creating opportunities to identify and deliver real value.”