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NatWest Strategic Investments
Investing in innovative businesses
David Grunwald, Director of Open Innovation, NatWest Group
“As people continue to adapt to an ever-changing world, it’s important for us to be a trusted partner who can anticipate, understand and respond to customers’ changing needs – technology is helping us to do this faster and more effectively. Through investments and collaboration with strategically-aligned startups, we can drive innovation that benefits our customers, supports the bank's long-term goals and fosters growth across the UK's innovation economy."
Innovative, proven, ambitious
Startups with unique, innovative offerings, proven capabilities and ambitious leadership.
- Demonstrated capabilities
- Large addressable market
- Live product preferred
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Investment ready
Early-stage companies with high-growth potential, from Seed to Series B.
- Have already raised from credible investors
- High growth trend and potential
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Strategically-aligned
Startups that align with our strategy, and progress the financial sector.
- Areas of interest include: WealthTech, digital assets, lending, RegTech, payments, banking and finance, ESG, PropTech, InsurTech, capital markets
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UK focused
We focus on our home UK market, but with case-by-case review for other geographies.
- Current operations in the UK, or
- Could be applied to the UK
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Long-term strategic partnership
Our long-term approach ensures sustained support, allowing you to focus on growth and innovation without the pressure of short-term returns.
Shared knowledge
We deeply understand what matters to founders. We build relationships that allow trusted sharing of expertise from both parties.
Innovation and collaboration
With our Innovation team, we’ll explore proof of concepts and opportunities to create together what we can’t create alone.
Pace and time-to-value
With pace, collaboration, shared knowledge and market access, we can accelerate time-to-value together.
Competitive edge
Build competitive edge by aligning insights with capabilities to deliver innovative new offerings to customers.
Market reach
Utilise NatWest’s market position and network. Alongside your unique offering, we can unlock new customer segments and opportunities for growth.
Serene
Through real-time customer insights driven by AI and behavioural science, Serene detects early signs of financial distress and predicts risks to help financial institutions deliver personalised, timely support at scale. This investment builds on NatWest’s commitment to supporting customers who may be experience financial difficulty including through increased access to new ideas and technologies.
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Coadjute
Coadjute's long-term ambition is to revolutionise the UK housing market and offer home buyers a one-stop shop for buying a home. By bringing estate agents, conveyancers, mortgage lenders, buyers and sellers together onto a single network where all parties are verified, and data can be shared securely in a standardised way. As a key supporter of the UK housing market, NatWest with Coadjute is continuing to look at innovative ways to make owning a home faster and simpler for customers.
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Yonder
Yonder specialises in credit card products focused on travel and lifestyle rewards. It mainly targets young professionals and expats, offering its members a curated selection of personalised rewards by partnering with local businesses and brands. This investment reflects our belief in delivering better lifestyle experiences with financial tools that resonate with customers’ personal goals and aspirations.
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Savannah Price, Founder and CEO, Serene
“Financial vulnerability is something we will all face at some point – it’s a universal challenge that demands a smarter, more proactive approach.
With NatWest’s support, we’re expanding our platform to help businesses deliver tailored solutions at scale. Their expertise in supporting scale-ups and understanding diverse customer needs will help to accelerate our growth and enable us to make an even greater impact for the organisations we work with.
This investment highlights Serene’s role in redefining how vulnerability is managed and underscores the growing movement towards a more customer-centric approach to financial services – one where every customer feels seen, understood, and empowered.”
Interested in investment and collaboration?
We’re always looking for investment opportunities and collaborative relationships with innovative startups that help us win together for our customers.
If you’re interested in the benefits of strategic investments and meet most of our criteria above, then get in touch for a conversation with our Open Innovation team.
Accelerator programme
Find the coaching, community and mindset you need to take your business to the next level. It's about helping you unlock your business' unique potential and building a mindset of resilience and self-belief.
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Business Builder resources
Business Builder is packed with practical resources for businesses. Browse our articles on writing a business plan, managing your finances and all sorts of other help for business starters and owners.
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Climate reporting help
We have guidance, solutions and resources to help your business, wherever you are on your climate journey. Discover our Carbon Planner app or try our toolkit to report your emissions.
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