The LegalTech Ecosystem in Wales

In 2023, Sonovate surpassed £3.5bn in total funding to businesses since the firm started lending in 2014, after deploying over £1bn in 2022 alone, as it builds on record activity. 272 Damon Chapple, the founder, expresses his desire to see a FinTech unicorn in Wales and the role of Sonovate in achieving this goal: Despite the flourishing and well-established fintech scene in Cardiff especially, there are currently no FinTech unicorns in Wales. As someone who grew up in Cardiff and still lives and works in the city, I'm keen to see this change. Sonovate becoming the first would be a testament to our hard- working and talented team, which has played a huge role in our growth and led to us being recognised as a futurecorn. 273 Wealthify 274 Wealthify, founded in 2014 by MichellePearce-Burke, Richard Avery-Wright, and Richard Theo, is a digital savings and investment platform. 275 The current CEO is Andy Russell. 276 Wealthify’s rapid growth led to its acquisition by financial giant Aviva in 2020. 277 Richard Theo, also the founder of Cardiff-based ActiveQuote Ltd., acted as FinTech Envoy for Wales in 2018. According to him: South Wales is already a hotspot of FinTech success and is uniquely placed to become the leading FinTech centre outside London. It is a fantastic place to do business, benefiting from a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial culture, low operating costs, excellent connectivity and a great lifestyle. 278

272 Lauren Phillips, “Cardiff fintech Sonovate surpasses £3.5bn in business lending” (Business Live, 13 March 2023), available at https://www.business-live.co.uk/technology/cardiff-fintech-sonovate-surpasses-35bn-26458954.

273 Technology News Wales (n 269). 274 See https://www.wealthify.com. 275 Sally Allan, “Wealthify is five – happy birthday to us!” (Wealthify, 2021), available at https://www.wealthify.com/blog/wealthify-is-five-happy-birthday-to-us. 276 Wealthify, “About Wealthify”, available at https://www.wealthify.com/about-us. 277 Daniel Lanyon, “Wealthify fully acquired by Aviva” (AltFi, 5 June 2020), available at https://www.altfi.com/article/6674_wealthify-fully-acquired-by-aviva.

278 Sion Barry, “Wales has a new envoy for its booming fintech sector in serial entrepreneur Richard Theo” (Wales Online, 17 May 2018), available at https://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/appointments/wales-new-envoy-booming-fintech-14671787.

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