It has been announced that Anthony Thomson, the founder and former chair of Metro Bank and Atom Bank, is teaming up with Steve Brennen, a former PayPal and Uber director, to launch Archie, a new acceleration partner for early-stage fintechs.
The venture is seeking to connect a “select portfolio of early-stage fintechs” with the intellectual capital and growth expertise required to develop them from start-ups to fully fledged high-growth businesses.
Support across 3 Continents
Support will be specifically targeted at Series A and B firms “at the most critical stage of their go-to-market strategy” within Australia, the UK and the Middle East.
Backed by two decades of industry experience founding and scaling notable brands and fintechs, the company’s leadership team, including Anthony Thomson as chair and Steve Brennen as CEO, will collaborate “side-by-side” with fintech founders to “help supercharge partners’ growth, de-risk go-to-market strategies and maximise their chances of success”.
Thomson explains that despite bringing “great ideas” to the market, many fintech start-ups ultimately fall short due to a lack of appropriate support. “Archie will change that,” he comments, adding that the team is “perfectly positioned to offer the real hands-on, senior support they need”.
Steve Brennen confirms that the team has “the know-how, expertise and experience of scaling global businesses” to achieve their aims. “We’ll be able to parachute in and help founders develop and implement go-to-market strategies, avoiding the pitfalls and levering Archie’s deep experience in strategy, marketing, sales and governance across tech and fintech,” he adds.
The Archie Network
These efforts will be backed by the creation of the Archie Network. This will serve as a platform for start-ups to “build partnerships, support capital requirements and recruit talent”. Archie is set for a phased launch, starting in Dubai on 12 September.
BFS Comment:
This is great news for those struggling to set up and build a Fintech business. Congrats to Messrs Thomson and Brennan. They have had the foresight to see how important this could be. It bodes well for the future development and growth of UK industries. All power to them and their Team. Let’s hope that more of our leading entrepreneurs follow in their footsteps.