New Tech Appointments at UK Space Agency, Funding Options and ALT/AVE

Five faces (and a touch of funding) for the UKSA, a digital finance platform and a regtech startup.

There are plenty of changes in Swindon and London with the UK Space Agency, Funding Options and ALT/AVE revealing new tech appointments. 

The right stuff? You can decide. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has appointed Lord David Willetts as the Chair of the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA) Board.

Digital finance platform Funding Options has appointed Malcolm Leach to its management team as CTO.

Regtech startup ALT/AVE has announced three appointments to its advisory board and a funding boost of £530,000.

Space for Willetts 

The appointment comes at a busy time for the Swindon-based UKSA. It’s looking ahead to the UK’s first domestic launch this year, and follows the publication of its National Space Strategy, which sets out the government’s plans. eWeek UK analysed that strategy last year.

Lord Willetts will work with the recently appointed CEO of the UKSA, Dr Paul Bate. The government says the £16.5 billion space sector is a “major contributor to a strong and secure UK economy”.

Previously, Lord Willetts served as Minister for Universities and Science and as the Member of Parliament for Havant, and has held a range of Chair and Board positions across the space and science sector, including Chair of the British Science Association, member of the Space Policy Advisory Board for EU External Action Service, the Board of UKRI, and of the ESA Expert Group on the Future of Space in Europe.

Malcolm in the Middle

London-based Funding Options focuses on the SME market. The fintech firm launched its Funding Cloud platform in April 2021 and last month introduced Funding Cloud: Connect, expanding this offering to intermediaries such as accountants and business advisors.

Leach has nearly three decades in tech. He has founded software businesses, created new products and held senior technology roles at Universal Music Group, Cap Gemini, Swiss Life AG, Virgin Media and iCrossing.

He previously spent three years as CTO for cash deposit platform Flagstone.

Money/Moves at ALT/AVE 

ALT/AVE CEO explains that the new three faces are EY Wealth Management head, Keith MacDonald; serial entrepreneur and government digital adviser, Sarah Ronald; and venture capitalist and private equity investor, Dag Lee. They join CEO and founder Chris Ansara and Chair Phil Shelley on the newly created advisory board.

London-based ALT/AVE is backed by the UK government via Innovate UK. The regtech startup has created docStribute – a distributed ledger application with applications that range from financial services to utilities companies. docStribute allows companies to deliver private, confidential and mandatory documents to customers digitally, via immutable hyperlinks. The firm says it can exist and function alongside, or replace entirely, existing portal systems.

The new funding will be used for development of ALT/AVE’s product suite and tech offering, and support the commercialisation of the technology. Existing investors also participated in the round.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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