Fintech start-up ZIPZERO has relocated its head offices from London to Aberdeen, in a bid to accelerate its growth.
The platform crowdsources paper and digital receipts directly from consenting shoppers to help optimise spending and lower household bills, while offering marketers an artificial intelligence-driven tool that identifies target consumers and informs marketing strategy.
The company has more than 200,000 app users in the UK and chief executive Mohsin Rashid reckons: “Scotland is the most fertile land for UK tech – there are a number of programmes driving growth in the sector, and the connection between industry innovators and academia is particularly strong.
“This has all helped to create a thriving tech community where ideas are easy to share, inspiration is readily found, and people are excited by the prospects of innovation – we’re very excited to be here.”
Growth in Scotland’s tech sector has been supported by the Scottish Government, which has invested £60m into its tech ecosystem, including a £42m award to Edinburgh-based company Codebase to establish seven new tech scale-up hubs across Scotland, one of which - Techscaler - ZIPZERO was recently accepted into.
Meanwhile, the collaboration between tech and academic institutions has led to new accelerator programmes, such as the University of Edinburgh’s AI Accelerator.
Scotland has become a hotbed for UK tech talent, with more than 850 such businesses, according to research firm Beauhurst. Meanwhile, industry group FinTech Scotland has recorded a 27% increase in the number of fintech firms operating from the country since 2021.
ZIPZERO received advisory support from national economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.
Leah Pape, head of high growth services at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Supporting the development of innovative digital scale-up businesses is very important to the Scottish economy – that supportive environment and access to Scotland’s deep pool of tech talent were important factors in ZIPZERO’s relocation.”
ZIPZERO has positioned itself at ONE Tech Hub in Aberdeen, which is designed to bring together entrepreneurs, founders and support organisations to work and grow together.
Karen O’Hanlon, director for digital tech at ONE, commented: “ONE Tech Hub is a focal point for digital tech start-ups and provides ambitious tech founders and entrepreneurs in north east Scotland access to an exceptional range of support.
“With ONE support, including networking opportunities at ONE Tech Hub, ZIPZERO have the prospect to scale within the region, as the north east tech sector continues to grow and strengthen its reputation, nationally and internationally, becoming a leading designation for tech start-ups.”
Since relocating to Aberdeen, ZIPZERO has already accepted an invite to Turing Fest this week, where it will be showcasing the first commercial application of its AI-powered consumer data platform – as well as being accepted to the Google Startups programme.
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