The first Tech Nation programme, which was launched by the HM Treasury and will feature fintech coaching sessions over five months in London, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh, aims to take advantage of the growing fintech sector.

We’re thrilled to announce the 20 companies joining the Tech Nation #Fintech growth programme for 2018!

Such innovative and exciting companies: https://t.co/VS4BpFgqzb #TechNationFintech pic.twitter.com/cxlwPkJQQX

— Tech Nation (@TechNation) September 6, 2018

In 2018 up until the 31st August, the sector in the UK attracted $19bn, including mergers and acquisitions.

The 20 selected fintech firms, seven of which are based outside of London, are a mixture of B2B, B2B2C and hybrids of the two.

>See also: Four reasons to invest in B2B customer service tech

The average age of the selected companies is three years old.

Those companies are as follows:

• Airtime Rewards (Manchester): Mobile tech firm that assists in rewarding customers
• Akoni (London): Cash management solution for SMEs
• AltFi Data (London): Data collation firm for lenders

-Rupert Taylor, AltFi Data’s Founder & CEO: “With the help of Tech Nation AltFi Data’s ambition is that our loan performance standard will also be established as the world leader.”

• Coinfirm (London): Verification and compliance platform for blockchain

-Pawel Kuskowski, CEO of Coinfirm: “We wanted to showcase our business model and the value we can bring – and we believe Tech Nation’s first ever fintech growth programme could be a driver for a significant reduction of the time it takes to bring ideas to international markets.”

• CoInvestor (Canterbury): Technology solutions provider for wealth managers, independent financial advisers and fund managers
• CreditLadder (London): API-based payment platform
• Delio (Cardiff): White labelled technology providers for financial institutions
• Enforcd (London): Company and employee compliance register
• Fiskl (London): Mobile-first, automated SaaS solution for small businesses
• Float (Edinburgh): Cash flow forecaster for Xero, Quickbooks Online or FreeAgent users

-Colin Hewitt, CEO of Float: “There is always so much value to be had from peer learning, and building relationships with other founders that will last. Adding into that the mentorship, and experience from industry leaders, made the programme difficult to resist!”

• Funding Options (London): Comparative marketplace for SME finance solutions

-Conrad Ford, CEO of Funding Options: “The Tech Nation Fintech programme gives our leadership team a brilliant opportunity to take stock of the business we want to be, and to lay strong foundations for our international plans.”

• LOQBOX Savings (Bristol): Credit history tool that encourages users to save money to put into a savings account

-Tom Eyre, CEO of LOQBOX Savings: : “Having been involved with the FinTech For All competition previously, we knew the standard of this Tech Nation programme would be high. As an early stage business the opportunity to meet like minded people, engage with those who have been there and done it before and seek guidance and help from individuals within our potential partner organisations was too good to miss.”

• Maxatta (London): Automated on-desk trading firm
• MishiPay (London): Shopping platform that allows customers to pay for items without having to queue
• SteelEye (London): Regulatory compliance technology and data analytics firm
• Sustainably (Edinburgh): Micro-payments platform for charity donations.
• Tail Offers (London): Open banking app that aims to make customer discounts more convenient through communication with the customer’s bank
• TAINA Technology (London): Automating regulatory compliance for financial institutions
• Thyngs (Norwich): Physical-to-digital software solution
• TransFICC (London): eTrading technology company providing solutions for the fixed income and derivatives markets

Eileen Burbidge, Chair of Tech Nation, HM Treasury’s Special Envoy for Fintech, Chair of the Fintech Delivery Panel and Partner at Passion Capital, said: “The UK is an acknowledged world leader in fintech but having this programme, endorsed by HM Treasury, will help the UK to further accelerate the development of the sector.

>See also: What is fintech? And how is it changing the financial services industry?

“The calibre of applications for the Tech Nation Fintech programme was incredibly impressive with a wide breadth of business models.

“The companies chosen have already demonstrated that they are winners and will certainly have many more successes to come.”