Northern Ireland FinTech firm Regtick set up in August last year, its founders never imagined the business would be taking on UAE clients just 14 months later. The unexpected expansion came after the company’s innovative platform, which simplifies the management of complex regulations for companies. Regtick now planning to open an office in Abu Dhabi next year, shortly after it participates in the finals of the ADGM competition this month at FinTech Abu Dhabi, the Mena region’s leading event dedicated to financial services. It is an example of the fast-moving growth in the sector in Belfast, which is currently the world’s number one destination for FinTech development investment projects, the top city in Europe for new FDI software development projects and was ranked in the inaugural Top 10 European Tech Cities for the Future.
Regtick’s acceleration into the UAE’s FinTech market is exactly the kind of success Andrew Jenkins, FinTech envoy for Northern Ireland, hopes for a whole cluster of businesses. The region’s FinTech sector is now worth about £400 million ($538.4m) a year to its economy, with the potential to attract £25m in foreign direct investment in the next three years. While exports from Northern Ireland to the UAE totalled Dh1.5 billion over the past five years and imports from the UAE hit Dh499m over the same period, Invest NI now wants to make FinTech a new focal point. While more than 30 Northern Irish companies have a base or a sales office in the UAE, First Derivatives, a Northern Ireland-founded capital markets software company that supports several banks in the Emirates, is one of the only FinTech entities with a presence there.