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Fintech firm secures £1.35m prize at pitching competition

2025-04-14 07:42:44 By

Inicio AI founder Rachel Curtis (centre) with event host Ed James (far left) and members of the One to Win judging panel

A fintech firm has secured a £1.35m investment following a pitch competition.

Inicio AI has developed a tool called Budgie AI which aims to provide consumers with financial support and remove the need to speak to a human.

It works with clients such as Northumbrian Water, credit agency TransUnion and IT services provider Wavenet.

Called One to Win, the competition is backed by investors and key figures in the West Midlands' tech industry including Rigby Group, SCC, Haatch and the West Midlands Co-Investment Fund.

Judges said the winning business needed to demonstrate game-changing innovation and convince them of its future growth prospects.

The reward is believed to be the largest single prize for any pitch competition in the UK and Coventry-based Inicio AI was chosen ahead of 140 other applicants.

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The main prize was £1 million but the panel was so impressed with Inicio AI that a further £350,000 was awarded to the firm, with judges Yiannis Maos and Hephzi Pemberton backing it as angel investors.

The pitching event took place as part of the annual Birmingham Tech Week and the judging panel included Steve Rigby, chief executive of Rigby Group which owns BIrmingham IT firm SCC, and Yiannis Maos, chief executive of Tech Week organiser TechWM.

The two other finalists were Birmingham-based ChangeMaker3D, a 3D concrete printing company aiming to reduce carbon emissions and material costs, and Skyfarer, a Coventry startup focusing on revolutionising the use of drones, particularly for medical uses.

Rachel Curtis, founder and chief executive of Inicio AI, said: "I am completely overwhelmed and blown away to be named the recipient of the One To Win prize.

"The £1.35 million will truly change the game for us as a business. In fact, it's officially closed our funding round - something that I feel excited, relieved and so grateful to announce.

"This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth plans and bring our solution to so many people who need it that much more quickly.

"To receive this backing, after the hard graft of the last three years, makes me feel immensely proud and I can't thank the judges enough for believing in us."

The winner was announced at a black tie dinner and awards evening held at the ICC in Birmingham to mark the end of this year's tech week.

Mr Maos added: "The One to Win competition is a testament to our ongoing efforts to nurture, support and promote the thriving tech ecosystem in the West Midlands.

"We firmly believe that our region is a hidden gem in the global tech landscape and we've been working tirelessly to showcase its immense potential.

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Coding school to create new edtech jobs in Birmingham

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UK fintech funding races ahead of Europe as sector looks for 2025 rebound

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Newcastle property firm iamproperty to create 100 jobs over coming months

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Google faces UK antitrust probe in crackdown on Big Tech dominance

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Tyneside tech firm Leighton moves to new city centre offices

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Dyson to move workforce out of Bristol and scrap tech hub plans

Engineering giant Dyson is planning to move its workforce out of Bristol and is scrapping plans for a tech and research hub in the city - despite investing £100m in a new building. The company, best known for its bagless vacuum cleaners, will relocate 180 staff to its large campus in Wiltshire. It will mean all of Dyson's South West employees are based in one location. Dyson's Malmesbury base is home to the Dyson Institute, where 185 undergraduate and postgraduate engineers study while working for the company. The move comes despite a major investment by Dyson into a previously planned research and development hub in Bristol. The company, which currently rents office space on College Green, purchased and carried out a top-to-bottom refurbishment of 1 Georges Square in Finzels Reach last year. The £100m Bristol research centre, first announced in 2023, was expected to employ hundreds of extra AI and software engineers as well as the global tech firm’s commercial and e-commerce teams for Great Britain and Ireland. It is understood that Dyson staff will no longer move into the building, but will relocate to Malmesbury instead. The Finzels Reach office block, which is owned by the Dyson family, will be rented out to another employer. Although no date has been set for the relocation to Wiltshire, Business Live understands it will be in spring when the lease on Dyson's rented office expires. Staff members will be given support with the commute to Malmesbury, about 45-minutes' drive away. The news comes less than a year after Dyson announced plans to cut a third of its UK workforce as part of global restructuring. Dyson's chief executive Hanno Kirner said last year the review would ensure the business was "prepared for the future". The campus at Malmesbury was Dyson's head office until 2019 when founder Sir James Dyson moved the company's HQ from the UK to Singapore. The billionaire tycoon has long been a critic of the UK's economic policies and made the decision post-Brexit to move Dyson's headquarters closer to its manufacturing sites and supply chains. Asia also has a free trade agreement with the European Union. Last year, Sir James and his family were revealed to be the richest people in the West of England despite experiencing a fall in their wealth of £2.2bn over the year. According to the Sunday Time Rich List, Britain’s best-known inventor had a fortune of £20.8bn in 2024 - down from £23bn in 2023.

Newcastle lab grown leather specialist BSF secures £50,000 funding to begin manufacturing

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County Durham firm braves Dragons' Den in bid to secure investment

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