Octopus buys wealth management fintech Seccl for £10m
Financial services and energy firm Octopus has agreed to purchase Seccl, a wealth management technology startup, as it seeks to move into the investment platform technology market.
Octopus will pay £10m for Seccl, a Bath-based firm that helps businesses build investment platforms using flexible software designed to reduce the administrative and cost burden of the platforms.
Founded in 2017, Seccl uses flexible software to create custom investment platforms for companies.
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Under the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, Octopus will provide ongoing investment into Seccl in addition to the initial purchase, and will look to expand Seccl’s engineering team.
Octopus and Seccl will also join forces to create an full-service investment platform will that offer integration with Octopus Cash, Octopus’s current savings service.
Simon Rogerson, chief executive and co-founder of Octopus, said he was “delighted” by the acquisition of Seccl.
“Millions of us use platform technology everyday whether for online banking or managing investments. It determines our user experience and investment costs. But it’s a market crying out for change,” Rogerson said.
“Seccl’s innovative technology has the potential to completely transform the customer and client experience across retail financial services. The market opportunity is enormous and we are all excited by its potential.”
Seccl co-founder David Harvey said: “It has always been abundantly clear that Octopus shares in our vision and I wholeheartedly believe that together we can create something incredibly powerful.”
“The platform technology space hasn’t changed in 10 years and, with a handful of firms now dominating the market, the time couldn’t be better for some new competition,” he added.
Main image credit: Octopus