Friday, 12 June 2020

Swoop, the innovative technology-based finance platform for businesses, has appointed George Htin-Kyaw as Chief Technology Officer. The appointment underlines Swoop’s determination to strengthen its services for those seeking funding and guidance to support their day-to-day operations and to stimulate growth. It also signals a recruitment drive to attract ambitious and highly skilled engineers who can work under Htin-Kyaw’s creative leadership.

Swoop has grown rapidly since launching in 2018 and has made several strategically significant senior appointments to its team of business and financial experts. As the latest addition to the company’s
C-suite, Htin-Kyaw will be responsible for shaping Swoop’s technology strategy and creating the right focus and technical team to fulfil Swoop’s goal to become the go-to platform for businesses in the UK.

Htin-Kyaw has an impressive background in software and systems engineering. A first-class honours graduate in electronic engineering, he has more than 25 years of experience in major financial and technology businesses as well as start-ups. He joins Swoop from Faculty, a UK-based technology company, where he was Head of Engineering and led a team of machine learning engineers working on innovative machine learning models

Prior to Faculty, Htin-Kyaw spent almost 12 years with Credit Suisse in a variety of senior engineering roles in London and Singapore. His responsibilities included developing cloud machine learning through an internal start-up, projects for emerging markets and risk technology, fixed-income electronic trading, and developing e-trading platforms. George has also worked for Barclays Capital, where he helped to deliver an execution platform for all the major exchanges in the Asia-Pacific region.

Htin-Kyaw’s in-depth knowledge of fintech and emerging technologies, particularly machine learning and artificial intelligence, combined with his expertise in managing and nurturing technical teams, provides Swoop with the ideal blend of skills to refine and expand its services.

With digital technology and the growth of Open Banking transforming financial services, the alternative finance marketplace is entering a new era with more options for businesses. Swoop is positioning itself as a versatile platform for the new funding landscape, offering the swiftest and most convenient route to explore and secure loans, grants or equity funding. Moreover, Swoop’s specialists are harnessing the latest technologies to develop customer-focused services that go beyond core finance.

This widening role is an important part of Swoop’s strategy, and it is one where Htin-Kyaw is keen to take Swoop to the next level. “Today, user experience can be the difference between success and failure for any business,” says Htin-Kyaw. “By applying the right technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and advanced analytics, we can better understand user needs and deliver the services that our customers want. For Swoop, it means not only finding the right finance for our customers but also identifying a wide range of other financial benefits such as how to make savings and become a more efficient business. In other words, financial intelligence and healthcare.”

Htin-Kyaw believes that Swoop’s culture and values are as important as the technology behind the brand. A key part of his role is to create a marketplace that people can depend on because Swoop provides the right direction and guidance. It is something that he has strongly pursued in his previous roles, always nurturing teams to fulfil their potential and deliver great technology for customers. Building the right technology team is a critical success factor for Swoop, and Htin-Kyaw is keen to attract engineers who share his vision.

“We need people who have big ideas and can make them happen,” says Htin-Kyaw “While always focusing on what’s best for customers, if we build a team that is both empowered and has fun with its work, that’s how we’ll achieve truly innovative results for customers and grow our business.

Andrea Reynolds, Swoop’s CEO, underlines the value that Htin-Kyaw brings to Swoop: “We’re already making big advances in financial awareness and access for businesses of all types, and we’re determined to build a Swoop community that’s founded on the best technology and financial insights. I’m delighted to welcome George to Swoop and am sure that his vast international experience and creative leadership will help to attract the right talent and strengthen and diversify our offering.”

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About Swoop

Swoop is a rapidly growing finance platform for SMEs. Launched in 2018 by Andrea Reynolds and built with the latest technology, Swoop demystifies the funding landscape in the UK and Ireland and provides swift and convenient access to a diverse range of funding options across debt, equity and grants. Swoop also identifies ways for businesses to improve their balance sheets by making savings on foreign exchange, utilities, broadband, and mobile phones. Working with business owners and financial advisors, Swoop draws on a huge range of data points to help businesses raise finance and save money.

See www.swoopfunding.com

For further information

George Htin-Kyaw, Chief Technology Officer
E george@swoopfunding.com

Charlotte Forsberg, Head of Marketing
E charlotte@swoopfunding.com