The Fintech House is already home to around 100 Portuguese fintechs and startups.

It was back in early February when HolyWally announced that it had chosen Lisbon, Portugal, as the location for its European HQ and planned expansion across the continent. It will base its new Research & Development team at the offices and has already made several hires. Recruitment will continue over the coming months.

The Fintech House is an initiative of Portugal Fintech in partnership with Sítio. The aim is to foster innovation and to make ideas grow. It has quickly built a reputation as one of the world’s leading fintech hubs. The resulting ecosystem enables Fintech, RegTech, InsureTech and Cybersecurity companies in Portugal to easily interact with regulators, legislators, consultants, banks, investors and other relevant entities.

The main corporate partners of The Fintech House are BPI, Fidelidade, KPMG, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados, VISA and INCM. International hub partners include Copenhagen Fintech, Colombia Fintech, Swedish Fintech Association, Paris Fintech Forum, The Israel Fintech Centre, Holland Fintech, FINDEC - Sweden’s Fintech Hub and Fintech Belgium.

Vel Vasic, co-founder and CEO of HolyWally, said: "It was not a hard decision choosing The Fintech House. They have a very supportive ecosystem, including great partners which really contribute to a great sense of direction and purpose, and wonderful facilities.

“They have built a community of like-minded individuals that help drive innovation and growth. Couple that with the City council’s determination to see Lisbon as the leading global fintech centre and you have the ideal location in which to expand your company.

"It is an ideal base for our R&D team who thrive on being pushed and meeting the future challenges of the digital wallet and payments industries.”

On 7 February 2023, HolyWally was confirmed as one of just eight high-growth companies chosen for the 1st cohort of the scaling up programme run by the Unicorn Factory Lisboa.

HolyWally joined Bairro, knokcare, Leadzai, ORNA, Pleez, Sensei and Zharta, after beating off stiff competition for a place.

HolyWally was founded in Singapore in 2020 by Vel Vasic (CEO), John Rutledge (COO), and Ivan Bajalovic (Development Lead).