Author: GFA Exchange– gfaexchange.com
GFA Exchange, a Birmingham-based fintech start-up funded during the first COVID-19 lockdown, has been awarded Fintech of the Year 2022 at the national BTA Awards, that were recently held at the QEII Conference Centre, London.
Sponsored by global financial services firm JP Morgan, The Black Tech Achievement (BTA) Awards were created to support a more diverse, inclusive and innovative UK technology sector, given that the sector is growing almost three times faster than the rest of the UK economy.
GFA Exchange launched in 2020, as a COVID-19 response solution. It works with financial services sector firms to ensure that access to SME finance, including the government’s own COVID-19 response of over £75billion, incorporates unique data insight on their most at-risk business clients.
Their proprietary technology primarily helps banks, SME lenders and corporate financiers improve financial inclusion, whilst reducing risk and cost. Founded by entrepreneur, speaker and business leader Joel Blake OBE, GFA Exchange is also rated by Innovate UK as one of the UK’s Top 10% most innovative solutions to help the financial services sector tackle the impact of the pandemic.
On receipt of the BTA Fintech of the Year Award that recognises innovators who have made an outstanding contribution to financial technology, Joel stated “It is an honour for our humble start-up to have been recognised in this way, as we believe that the finance market needs new models of credit, lending and investment, to adapt to the needs of underserved businesses affected by global challenges.
He continued “But many global challenges, like what is happening in Ukraine, do affect financiers themselves. They all need deeper insight on their own underserved clients, at scale, so they can better understand what they must do internally to be more inclusive. As we approach the two-year anniversary of the first UK lockdown, we are grateful to be still here to play our own part, through our award-winning technology and on-going support.”
GFA Exchange is committed to helping organisations who seek to improve financial inclusion, by providing access to its technology via it’s cloud-based platform, and is offering free 30 minute demonstration sessions for financial lenders and investment firms – to book your free demo, please visit https://www.gfaexchange.com/contact-us
Accompanying Notes:
About GFA Exchange
GFA Exchange is a fintech platform that helps financiers improve their financial inclusion on underserved SMEs.
It’s award-winning data technology benchmarks, rates and monitors the health performance of businesses, to identify which are likely to grow, which are not and why in order to reduce risk, cost and improve support for financial inclusion.
Website: www.gfaexchange.com Email: [email protected]
About Joel Blake OBE, Founder & CEO, GFA Exchange
Joel is an entrepreneur, public speaker and business leader with over 20+ years’ experience’ across Diversity, Finance and Technology. He helps organisations develop inclusive business growth support, strategies and models.
He is the Founder and CEO of The GFA Exchange. He is the former Executive for Access to Finance and Growing Business (GBSLEP), where he led the business support ecosystem strategy for over 6,500 regional SMEs. In 2013, he co-founded a finance company providing start-up finance to over 650 new businesses before exiting to found the GFA Exchange.
He has provided consul to business policy teams at No 10 Downing Street and central government on national SME and inclusive growth strategies, consults with private and public sector organisations on developing inclusive business ecosystem models and is often asked to speak on business growth issues and challenges.
Outside of GFA Exchange, Joel is the current President of the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, a Fellow of the National Centre for Entrepreneurs, Chair of Employability UK, and a Non-Executive Director of B: Music (Town Hall and Symphony Hall).
He was awarded an OBE for Services to Business Support and Enterprise in 2016.
Email: [email protected]
About Black Tech Achievement Awards (BTA)
The UK’s technology sector is growing almost three times faster than the rest of the economy and with tech firms creating an ever-increasing number of highly skilled and highly paid jobs, opportunities are only set to increase.
By championing Black achievement within technology, the BTA Awards were designed to inspire and connect whilst helping to map out a more diverse, inclusive and therefore innovative landscape.
Website: www.btaawards.com
