Five UK fintechs enter FCA’s scale-up support track

By AtheneNet Business Desk

Five fast-growing financial firms have joined the Financial Conduct Authority’s Scale-up Unit, becoming its first participants regulated solely by the FCA. ClearScore, Modulr, Teya, Urban Jungle and Zilch will receive tailored regulatory support while developing products, responding to policy changes and managing rapid expansion.

The five businesses span payments, consumer finance, credit information and insurance technology. Their selection broadens a programme that began with six firms jointly regulated by the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority in February.

The announcement describes regulatory assistance rather than financial backing. It does not disclose grants, investment or quantified growth targets for the participating firms.

Five firms extend the unit beyond joint regulation

ClearScore, Modulr and Zilch are also members of the Unicorn Council for UK FinTech, a coalition of UK-based fintech founders and chief executives established by Innovate Finance. Teya and Urban Jungle complete the new group.

The defining feature of this cohort is its regulatory status: all five are supervised solely by the FCA. The earlier six-firm cohort consisted of businesses overseen jointly by the FCA and PRA, giving the Scale-up Unit experience across different supervisory arrangements.

Tailored support follows firms through rapid change

The FCA Scale-up Unit provides direct regulatory guidance as participating companies introduce products, adjust to policy developments and deal with the operational pressures created by growth. The support is intended to help firms understand regulatory expectations earlier, when business models and internal systems may be changing quickly.

This places supervision alongside product development and organisational expansion. For firms, the potential value lies in addressing regulatory questions before they become obstacles to execution. For the regulator, closer engagement offers earlier visibility into whether governance and controls are keeping pace.

A 15-firm pilot puts governance at the centre

The FCA’s approach draws on an Early and High Growth Oversight pilot involving 15 firms between July 2025 and March 2026. Those businesses operated across asset management, wealth management and payments.

Regulators examined whether governance, risk management and control frameworks were developing in step with each firm’s growth. Insights published on 10 August 2026 found that early investment in these areas helps businesses manage expansion and pursue sustainable growth.

The published findings provide a supervisory lesson rather than a measured comparison of company performance. The source does not report growth rates, failure rates or evidence that regulatory support alone caused better outcomes.

Scale-up support joins a wider regulatory pathway

The unit sits alongside Innovation Pathways, the Pre-Application Support Service and the Early and High Growth Oversight function. Together, these programmes create a route from early regulatory preparation through authorisation and into closer engagement during rapid expansion.

Since launching its innovation services, the FCA says it has supported more than 1,000 innovative and growing firms. Jessica Rusu, the regulator’s chief data, information and innovation officer, said high-growth businesses contribute to UK economic growth and that the FCA wants ambitious firms to navigate regulation while innovating with confidence.

For the UK fintech sector, the new cohort shows the regulator extending dedicated scale-up engagement to firms outside joint FCA-PRA supervision. Applications for the next Scale-up Unit group are expected to open soon.

Source: Financial Conduct Authority Press Releases