Akoni and Coriolis Technologies have been selected for the second phase of the Open Challenge, run by Nesta’s Challenge Prize Centre.

At the forefront of open banking, the Open Up Challenge will use this unique opportunity to shape a future for small business banking characterised by greater transparency, choice, quality and innovation.

Through their collaboration, Akoni and Coriolis Technologies will provide personalised support to SMEs around the issues of trade, cash, savings and corporate membership.

This will meet a latent demand amongst small businesses, who largely do not have access to the tools they need but will now benefit from a simple interface combining different sources of data.

Akoni’s ambition to change the face of business banking and provide small and medium businesses with tools typically reserved for large corporates and multinationals, was born from CEO Felicia Meyerowitz Singh’s own frustrations in managing £50M+ cash whilst working as a Director for an SME.

Coriolis Technologies’ extensive matrix of trade data will be used to supplement Akoni’s existing access to company and sector data, ratings data, bank partner and product data; providing the most comprehensive dataset available to the UK SME market.

Felicia Meyerowitz Singh, CEO, Akoni, said: 

“Our team is excited to deliver solutions for SMEs, which enable them to grow and drive their businesses forward using technology in a simple way.   We believe openness of data, driven by Open banking, will contribute to a fundamental shift in business banking and are delighted to be in such excellent company amongst other startups, with our solution acknowledged by such a prestigious body.”

Dr Rebecca Harding, CEO, Coriolis Technologies, said: 

“As we move ever closer to Brexit, the biggest challenge for the UK Government is finding ways to encourage and nurture international trade. SMEs make up 99% of the UK economy but at present only a third export beyond our borders.

“We are delighted Nesta have not only acknowledged this issue but are actively taking innovative steps to find a solution. One of which is the recognition of our data-based proposition, which will support SMEs by granting them access to datasets that have, until now, been the preserve of larger, more financially dominant institutions.”