Barclays Techstars accelerator adds Anthony Browne , ex-head of banking industry body BBA, as entrepreneur in residence
The former boss of the British Bankers’ Association; the industry body which last year became UK Finance, has resurfaced at the tech accelerator of one of Britain’s biggest banks.
Anthony Browne is joining Barclays Techstars as entrepreneur in residence where he will help advise fintech startups.
“Financial technology is one of the most exciting and innovative sectors of the economy,” Browne told City A.M..
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“It is an area where Britain is truly a world leader, helping create jobs and bringing in investment from around the world. Techstars itself is at the forefront of financial technology, and it will be a fascinating pleasure to help these companies shape the future.”
Located in Shoreditch, Techstars London was set up in 2015 with Barclays supporting it for the past four years to hot house fintech startups.
Alumni of the programme include Everledger, a blockchain startup focused on the diamond industry and Simudyne, a startup that provides banks and the Bank of England simulations for modelling risk scenarios, as well as insurtech startup Cuvva, named fintech company of the year at the City A.M. Awards.
“The title [entrepreneur in residence] is a bit of a wide-ranging moniker,” said managing director of Techstars Chris Adelsbach.
“Ultimately, I wanted Anthony to join me at Techstars because I thought he’d be able to impart high quality, real-world advice to our founders about growing their business. About 80 per cent of the fintech’s we invest in sell B2B and Anthony’s understanding of the banking landscape is second-to-none.”
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Browne was the voice of the British Banking industry at the BBA for five years until last summer when it merged with other trade bodies, including the Council of Mortgage Lenders. He currently chairs the Regulatory Policy Committee, the independent body which scrutinises government proposals on regulation and deregulation.
Prior to the BBA, Browne was a journalist, ran the Policy Exchange think tank, was a policy director to then Mayor of London Boris Johnson and also headed up government relations in Europe for Morgan Stanley.
He joins Techstars as the latest cohort of startups – the accelerator’s fifth – is set to be unveiled next week.