Monzo founder leaves London for 'more tech-friendly' US
Happy Friday FinTech Fanatic,
The connection in today’s intro is in the word ‘leave’, as two hotshots of British FinTech announced their departure.
First, Starling Bank CEO Anne Boden surprisingly announced she will be stepping down at the end of June.
The Welsh businesswoman said it was the right time to step aside as Starling announced its 2022 annual results, reporting a doubling of revenue during the year to 31 March 2023 to £453m and a six-fold increase in pre-tax profits to £195m.
Boden’s decision to step down is due to her dual roles as CEO and founder with a large shareholding in the business, which ultimately she believes require “different and distinct approaches”. Starling’s COO John Mountain will take over as interim CEO.
Starling will likely go public and continue to innovate and grow, according to information gathered by the BBC. Something that could be considered as a boost for the UK as a ‘FinTech hub’, in the recent light of criticism on London and the UK as attractive locations for FinTech’s.
Someone who packs his bags for a completely different reason is Tom Blomfield.
The founder of the digital bank Monzo has said he will leave London to invest in early-stage companies in San Francisco as the US is “much more accepting” of tech companies than Britain.
Mr Blomfield made the comments as he announced he would join Y Combinator, a so-called start-up accelerator, as a partner on a permanent basis.
The departure of Blomfield will intensify concerns that London is an increasingly unattractive location for startup founders seeking investment in their businesses.
Earlier this month, Nik Storonsky, chief executive of rival Revolut, complained that Britain’s “extreme bureaucracy” was stifling the company’s application for a UK banking licence.
Never a dull moment in FinTech, and the ongoing competition between US and UK.
Please find the other FinTech news listed below👇
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#DONEDEAL
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Looking to work with me in any of the following areas?
Cheers,
Marcel van Oost
The Payment Solutions Guy — I'll help you decrease processing fees by 20%, and improve approval rates (guaranteed) by finding the best Payment Providers for your business | Visit my website to learn how
1yAlways fun to get my daily dose of fintech news from Marcel van Oost, Your posts are cutting through the noise! Thanks! :)
What a week it has been! Thanks for the mention 🤗 it's truly a pleasure to collaborate with such cool brands like GoHenry Alex Kaye Jacob Taewa
C-Suite | Driving Fintech & Web3 Innovation | Board Member
1yI don't know how this is even newsworthy to share.
Demystifying Fintech | CEO at WhiteSight
1yWow, it's been a whirlwind week in the fintech world, especially with the fintech infrastructure firms finally raking in massive funding rounds!