Entry & Judging

Mark Walker

The Fintech Power50

Mark is an experienced technologist, his early corporate successes led him to form his own enterprise software company, producing and selling to Universities and institutions. A hands-on role, he executed this idea from concept to maturity, while also leading the international development for an advanced engineering company before its M&A.

A former Senior Adviser at UK trade & investment, where he used his time to build contacts in technology, IoT and Smart cities sectors, as well as the investment and accelerator environment. Managing a team of seven, his role facilitated a good understanding of the London technology environment. He then continued his passion for supporting Start-up and Scale-up organisations by joining London & Partners as Head of Financial Services & Business Technology. He also led the Mayor’s international business programme for the technology & urban sector.

Having stepped back into the private sector, He has continued supporting ideas, Start-ups and Scale-ups with several of his own investments and ventures, including working with an amazing co-founder on an exclusive Fintech accelerator programme, The Fintech Power50, and running the Operations & Editorial functions at The Fintech Times, a global multimedia news outlet centred around the world’s first leading Fintech newspaper.

Domenic Girolamo

Domenic has spent over two decades working with cutting edge FinTech start-ups in addition to large Banks and Financial Services institutions in C-level leadership and advisory roles. 

He has helped shape and lead the many evolutionary stages it takes to grow from greenfield ideation and into highly profitable digital first businesses with companies such as digital mobile-app based credit lending with Jaja Finance, Invoice factoring with Clear funding, Peer-to-peer lending with Arrowgrass, Online grant distribution with Energy Savings Trust, Contract labour management with BAE systems, Digital money transfer with Xe.com, and currently as the Group CTO for Innovation Group developing a disruptive digital ecosystem for the Insurance Industry.

Sarah Williams-Gardner

Sarah is CEO at Fintech Wales

Sarah was a founding member of Starling Bank, the UK’s first mobile only challenger bank where she led Corporate Affairs. Formally Corporate Affairs Director at IBM UK Sarah’s interactions with Governments have been both as an employer/investor and supplier. Having been CEO at Opportunity Now when the equality bill was being amended she is an ardent promoter for diversity & Inclusion, acting as a role model to Dyslexics & women in business.. Prior to this as an IBM Client Director Sarah won many commercial deals implementing exciting new innovative solutions. She is a mother & farmers wife who is passionate about creating opportunities through education & innovative technology.

Andrew Probert

Co founder Admiral insurance and Confused.com

A qualified chartered accountant, having trained with KPMG. Held significant posts with a number of insurance and financial services companies until becoming a founder director of the Admiral Group plc on it’s start up in 1992. 

Retired  from the Admiral Group in September 2006  but retains membership of a number of subsidiary group boards. Until 2016 was  chairman of the largest insurance company within the group based in Gibraltar, and now primarily involved in the group’s European and US expansion on a part time basis. 

His career has entailed significant time spent appraising new business ideas and investments and involvement in start-ups. 

He manages his own portfolio of private investments and acts as a business angel on a small number of mostly South Wales based SMEs, as well as being a backer, along with Welsh Government and others of the Alacrity Foundation based in Newport, which takes post graduate  students into focused groups, to educate them and help launch start-up businesses and fund their ideas.

Charlotte Crosswell

CEO of Innovate Finance

Innovate Finance is the industry body representing the UK FinTech sector.

Prior to joining Innovate Finance, Charlotte spent the majority of her financial services career in market infrastructure roles. Charlotte has held a number of management positions at Nasdaq and London Stock Exchange across international capital markets, equities, fixed income, OTC derivatives trading and clearing. In addition to her work with Innovate Finance, Charlotte is on the board of UK Finance, and also advises and sits on the boards of Government FinTech advisory groups, technology companies and FinTech startups.

Charlotte holds a BA (Hons.) in French from the Southampton University. She has been included in the list of top 100 Women in Finance over many years.