The right support at the right time: SuperTech helps HAELO accelerate its route to market in financial services
The challenge
HAELO was born from its founder, Dr Mick O’Conner’s extensive experience in senior leadership roles within highly regulated environments, Mick was acutely aware of the accountability that comes with governance, risk and compliance and despite established frameworks and controls, a fundamental question consistently emerges: do organisations genuinely understand what is happening across their operations, and where risk may be emerging?
In financial services, this challenge is amplified by the pace and complexity of regulatory change. Many institutions still rely on manual horizon scanning, spreadsheets and fragmented processes, making it difficult to detect change early, act quickly and evidence compliance with confidence.
The solution
HAELO uses AI‑driven regulatory horizon scanning to identify regulatory changes as they emerge and compare them against an organisation’s existing obligations, policies and controls. Using trusted regulatory data, the platform applies AI to detect and explain meaningful change, showing where requirements are already covered and where gaps exist.
The technology supports clear ownership and remediation tracking, while retaining human oversight throughout. This enables compliance leaders to validate outputs, demonstrate reasonable steps and maintain accountability, supported by a transparent audit trail rather than black‑box decision‑making.
Getting HAELO to market: FinTech Cluster support from FinTech Scotland and SuperTech WM
HAELO participated in two Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL) programmes run by FinTech Scotland, with SuperTech acting as a key programme partner. SuperTech’s role enabled greater diversification of the financial services organisations taking part, bringing West Midlands mid‑tier and specialist institutions into the programme, including Unity Trust Bank.
HAELO secured £50,000 of grant funding through each programme, enabling pilots to take place. The second programme focused on operational resilience and, from 2026, HAELO has been working with Unity Trust Bank on a pilot scheme to explore the application of its technology in a live banking environment.
“Alongside the opportunity provided by FinTech Scotland’s FRIL programme and funding, SuperTech’s support came at a critical point for us. It was access to the right introductions, advocacy and challenge at the right time, which helped us move from research and innovation into real‑world deployment far more quickly.”
Dr Mick O’Connor, Founder, HAELO
Working with Unity Trust Bank
Unity Trust Bank played a critical role in helping HAELO move from innovation into practical application. As a mid‑tier bank, it was the right size and shape for a pilot: large enough to reflect real operational and regulatory complexity, while remaining agile and open to collaboration.
“Working with Unity Trust Bank helped us pressure‑test our thinking with real financial services stakeholders. That accelerated our journey and gave us confidence that what we’re building genuinely solves live regulatory problems. Unity Trust Bank were a fantastic partner to work with. They were open, collaborative and genuinely engaged with what we were trying to achieve, which made them the perfect partner for a pilot.”
Dr Mick O’Connor, Founder, HAELO
“Working with HAELO gave us a practical way to explore how regulatory horizon scanning could be made clearer and more efficient. The pilot showed how the solution can reduce time and effort in managing regulatory change, improve visibility and support stronger decision‑making, while still retaining the oversight that’s essential in a regulated environment. It was a constructive collaboration that addressed real operational challenges. The way SuperTech brought the right organisations into the programme made the collaboration feel well‑matched from the start.”
Tom Barkass-Williamson. Unity Trust Bank
Looking ahead
Building on the pilot work with Unity Trust Bank, HAELO is now focused on moving towards wider commercial deployment within financial services. The insight gained through working with Unity Trust Bank has sharpened its understanding of where the technology delivers greatest value, particularly for organisations facing significant regulatory pressure with limited internal resource.
HAELO is using this learning to support further customer conversations, prepare for broader market rollout and progress towards investment and growth. SuperTech continues to play a role through ecosystem connections and advocacy as HAELO scales.