Our London Mission Trip has come to a close! After spending a week at UK Fintech Week (UKFW), we’re back on the sunny island of Singapore, enriched with a wealth of new insights and experiences. 

On Day 4, we participated in TheCityUK International Conference 2023, followed by a highly interactive roundtable. The roundtable was graced by Lord Safraz, the prime minister’s trade envoy to Singapore, and chaired by Suchitra Nair.

During the roundtable, we discussed the opportunities for Singapore FinTechs in the UK and how the UK-Singapore FinTech Bridge can strengthen financial cooperation and benefit both countries. Our delegates also gave feedback on how the FinTech Bridge has helped them make inroads into the UK market and the assistance they require to deepen their collaboration with the UK. 

On the final day of the mission trip, we kickstarted the day with a visit to HSBC. Our delegates were introduced to Project Orion, Project Kinetic, and HSBC’s sustainability efforts. Project Orion is HSBC’s proprietary tokenisation platform leveraging blockchain technology that FIs and corporates can use to issue digital bonds.

Our COO, Reuben Lim, also spoke on a panel discussing the UK tech market, funding, business development, and how founders can scale their businesses overseas and in Singapore. 

For founders looking to work with FIs, it is essential to contextualise your pitch. Use cases are equally important in showing your product/innovation effectively. Finally, our delegates also learned the importance of using data, collecting info, and networking as part of their business expansion strategy.

Last but not least, we ended the trip with practical advice on the operational aspects of setting up and running a business in the UK. Thanks to Yikai Yao and Patricia Jamelska from Enterprise SG, we heard from David Butcher, Fara Mohammad, Chris Botsman, Rebecca Cox FCA, Winnie Seow and Shareena Rahman on hiring, corporate tax structure, and the suitable corporate set-up to achieve business success in the UK.

A huge thanks to all our delegates and the SFA team for their strong support on this trip. We are already looking forward to our next mission trip in July! Next stop, 🇹🇭 Bangkok!