Posts

Proptech Startups Are Ditching the Software Playbook. Should You?

Image
Proptech Startups Are Ditching the Software Playbook. Should You? Most property technology founders pitch the same idea: sell software to estate agents and landlords. The best-funded UK player in lettings did the opposite and bought the agents. Few sector spotlights show a business-model split as clearly as proptech startups do right now. This article compares the two routes and gives founders a practical way to choose between them. A Fragmented Market Gives New Entrants an Opening The UK lettings market is made up of many independent agencies. That fragmentation creates an opening, and it also explains why selling software is hard. One analysis reports that only 7% of letting agents named technology upgrades a priority for 2026. Treat that as a single-source figure, but it points to slow adoption. Dwelly's founders describe the UK lettings market as an ideal target for AI. The company has acquired 17 agencies, manages around 15,000 properties and collects roughly £350m in ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Is Open Banking? 1 Billion Payments Say Founders Can't Ignore It

Image
In May 2026, UK open banking payments passed 40 million in a single month for the first time. By June, the total had crossed 1 billion payments since launch, according to Open Banking Limited (OBL). Numbers like that rarely stay in the background. For anyone still asking what is open banking, this sector spotlight takes the founder's view: where the growth is, which products it supports and what trust it demands. Scale Has Already Arrived Open banking in the UK reached 15.16 million users in July 2025, nearly one in three adults, according to OBL, and services were used a record 2.04 billion times that month. Total users grew 34% over the year. OBL adds a caution: it cannot identify people who use more than one brand, so the figure counts user connections, not unique individuals. Payments tell the sharper story. Open banking payments totalled 351 million in 2025, up 57%, according to OBL figures reported by Zable, and an industry guide notes that in March 2025 they made up roug...
Post a Comment
Read more

What Is Embedded Finance? The Invisible Bank Hiding Inside Every App You Use

Image
  You booked a ride, and the payment simply happened. You bought a sofa, and a "pay in three" option appeared at checkout. You never opened a banking app, yet you used financial services twice in a minute. In this Sector Spotlight, the question worth asking is a simple one: what is embedded finance, and why is it quietly rewriting how money moves? The Short Answer, Without the Jargon Embedded finance means placing financial products inside a non-financial company's own platform. Payments, lending, insurance, and even bank-style accounts are delivered where the customer already is, rather than in a separate bank app or branch. The company running the app usually isn't a bank. It partners with a licensed provider that handles the regulated machinery in the background. The customer sees one smooth experience, and the finance part becomes almost invisible. That invisibility is the whole point. Finance stops being a destination you travel to and becomes a feature that ...
Post a Comment
Read more