International giant joins growing City trend
Hogan Lovells has become the latest law firm to throw its support behind the potentially lucrative world of financial technology by providing a free mentoring programme.
The new service, officially unveiled at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London today, will see some of the firm’s “most experienced” lawyers offer expert guidance to fintech stars of the future.
Helping businesses through their “journey,” Hogan Lovells will offer complimentary legal advice, compliance training, commercial insight and access to a range of “contacts” across the firm’s global network.
The programme — open to organisations at any stage of development — will be rolled out across the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and Hong Kong. Fintech partner and head of Hogan Lovells’ financial institutions sector Rachel Kent said:
It is great for the industry that so many law firms are offering support to fintechs. What we offer is more than just legal advice, we help start-ups to integrate themselves into the fintech ecosystem and to fulfil their objective of bringing their product to market. Our ‘FinTech Mentors Program’ will allow us to share our extensive industry knowledge with a new breed of financial services companies and to help them to launch, expand across borders and to be successful.
Hogan Lovells now joins a myriad of City firms attempting to attract fintech-focused start-ups.
Last month Allen Overy launched its new ‘Fuse’ tech hub. Housed within the magic circle giant’s plush London office, the space can accommodate around 60 entrepreneurial individuals and will be available free of charge. Meanwhile, Mishcon de Reya created a similar incubator called ‘MDR LAB’. Teaming up with London-based innovation investor L Marks, the City outfit will offer expert guidance to a small number tech-based businesses for ten weeks this summer.
Elsewhere, Simmons & Simmons — which was one of the first law firms to embrace the fintech movement — set aside over £100,000 in free legal support to help “exciting” new businesses. Not to be outdone, Addleshaw Goddard went one step further and promised £500,000 in guidance. Even Slaughter and May has taken a break from its more traditional approach to legal services and jumped aboard the fintech bandwagon. The magic circle firm will be handing five start-ups £30,000 in mentorship.
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