UK FINTECH start-up ZIPZERO has relocated its head offices from London to Aberdeen, Scotland, in a bid to accelerate its growth.
ZIPZERO is spearheading an AI-driven consumer-and-advertiser platform revolution – bringing together both groups for a financially empowering relationship. By crowdsourcing paper and digital receipts directly from consenting consumers, ZIPZERO not only helps consumers optimise their spending and lower their household bills but also offers marketers an advanced AI tool that identifies target consumers and informs marketing strategy.
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The company has over 200,000 app users in the UK and has been prolific in shaping discussions on the cost-of-living crisis.
Scotland, particularly Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, has become a hotbed for UK tech talent, with over 850 high-growth tech businesses, according to research firm Beauhurst. Meanwhile, FinTech Scotland has recorded a 27% increase in the number of fintech companies operating from the country since 2021[2].
Commenting on the reasons behind the move, ZIPZERO’s CEO, Mohsin Rashid, said: “Scotland is the most fertile land for UK tech. There are a number of programmes driving growth in the tech sector, and the connection between industry innovators and academia is particularly strong. This has all helped to create a thriving tech community; 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 £60 million into its tech ecosystem, including a £42 million 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.
ZIPZERO has received advisory support from Scotland’s 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, the Techscaler hub for northeast Scotland. ONE Tech Hub is one of Opportunity North East’s (ONE) transformational projects, designed to bring together entrepreneurs, founders, innovative businesses and support organisations so that they may learn, work and grow together.
Karen O’Hanlon, Director 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 northeast Scotland access to an exceptional range of support.
“ZIPZERO has joined our growing digital tech community at ONE Tech Hub and I look forward to seeing what they will achieve in the years ahead. With ONE support, including networking opportunities at ONE Tech Hub, ZIPZERO have the prospect to scale within the region, as the Northeast tech sector continues to grow and strengthen its reputation, nationally and internationally, becoming a leading designation for tech startups.”
“The region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and the support that’s available, not just from Opportunity North East, but across our partner networks, provides unique support and networking opportunities in Scotland for ambitious founders with disruptive tech from any sector looking to accelerate their growth.”
Since relocating to Aberdeen, ZIPZERO has already taken advantage of some of the country’s most exciting opportunities. It was asked to attend Turing Fest this week, where it will be showcasing the first commercial application of its AI-powered consumer data platform – a live insights dashboard for the retail sector. This comes as it has successfully been accepted to the much-coveted Google Startups programme.
