The UK-headquartered lender, which has a large wealth management unit, has built a new unit dedicated to venture capital-style investing in fintech and technology companies.

Barclays has set up a new venture capital-esque unit that will invest in disruptive technologies, aiming to generate a “significant new revenue stream” over the next five to seven years. 

The new unit, Barclays UK Ventures (BUKV), will be headed by Ben Davey, formerly the bank’s head of strategy, a position that will see him join Barclays UK’s executive committee.

The BUKV team “will have the mandate and space” to pursue opportunities both within and outside Barclays, captured through a combination of organic build-outs, commercial partnerships and venture investments, the UK-based lender said yesterday in a statement. The bank will take equity stakes in fintech and other technology companies, it added.

The unit will “leverage the latest technology and digital innovations” through a “rapid test-and-learn” platform that will enable new customer propositions to be delivered quickly to market, Barclays said. 

Ashok Vaswani, chief executive of Barclays UK, said: “We live in a very exciting time for our industry where the deployment of new technology is making new business models and partnerships possible for the first time.

“Technology in banking… adds value and convenience for customers and Barclays UK Ventures will take this work to the next level combining our main strengths of agility and scale. Ben’s appointment will put real weight behind this new unit to provide new lines of revenue growth.”