Doqit Technologies and Planda AI secure £45k awards for pioneering digital solutions to tackle later-life financial planning.

Two leading fintech companies, Doqit Technologies Ltd and Planda AI, have been awarded £45,000 each for creating innovative digital solutions focused on simplifying financial planning for later life. As part of the Smart Data Foundry and FinTech Scotland UK Fintech Challenge, these firms developed tools designed to address real-world challenges related to financial well-being in aging populations. To refine their solutions, the finalists used synthetic consumer banking data from Edinburgh’s Smart Data Foundry, enabling them to effectively test their innovations. The competition attracted key financial players like NatWest Group, PwC, and Royal London, fostering collaboration across diverse organisations. Doqit Technologies created a life-management app inspired by founder Catherine Ann Reid's personal struggle with overwhelming life-admin while caring for her daughter with special needs. Doqit aims to streamline managing everyday tasks like bills, pensions, and insurance, integrating Open Finance to further simplify financial organisation. Meanwhile, Planda AI utilised machine learning and psychology to create a financial well-being platform that analyses behavioural patterns, predicting financial trajectories to help individuals achieve security. Working with NatWest, PwC, and Royal London allowed both firms to align their innovations with the real challenges faced by financial institutions and consumers. Leaders from contributing organisations praised the partnership’s transformative potential, highlighting how these solutions could redefine later-life financial planning while fostering collaboration between businesses and fintech innovators. Additionally, these technologies offer broader societal benefits by addressing the growing complexities of aging populations. The success of Doqit and Planda AI underscores the role of synthetic data in prototype development, as well as the importance of cross-sector collaboration in driving meaningful innovations.