Meet Cleo: The AI Finance App that Captivated Gen Z 🧑‍💼💕

Are you tired of feeling like your bank account is more like a black hole than a treasure chest? Well, get ready to meet Cleo, the AI personal finance app that's about to rock your financial world!

Cleo isn't your typical boring budgeting tool; she's like your cool, financially savvy best friend. She understands the struggles of being a Gen Z hustler and knows how to make money talk without the fluff.

With Cleo by your side, you'll finally get a grip on your spending, save smarter, and maybe even have a little fun while you're at it.

Buckle up and join the financial revolution as we uncover how Cleo won the hearts of Gen Z and the valuable lessons we can all learn from this innovative startup.

📝 Cleo’s identity

• Problem: The inability to see exactly what was happening with our money, all in one place.

• Solution & competitive differentiation: By using data science and machine learning in a fun, gamified manner, the company could attract and keep Generation Z and millennial users for its financial assistant chatbot.

• Industry: Fintech, Personal Finance.

• Headquarters: UK.

• Year founded: 2016.

• Investors: Balderton, Entrepreneur First, Moonfruit co-founders Wendy Tan White and Joe White, Skype founder Niklas Zennström, Wonga founder Errol Damelin, EQT Ventures, Local Globe.

• Total Funding Amount: $137M (Source: Crunchbase)

• Business model: Premium business model offering valuable financial insights to improve spending habits and facilitate better money management (monthly subscription fee on Plus and Builder subscription services).

• Metrics: 100% YoY growth and $50m ARR.

• Why it’s scaling: Because Cleo is not actually a bank, it is able to scale rapidly because it has no huge capital requirements or regulatory constraints.

👨‍💼 Barney Hussey-Yeo, The Visionary Young Grad Founder

Meet the mind behind Cleo's magic – Barney Hussey-Yeo, a machine learning prodigy who graduated in 2014 from the University of Bristol. With a passion for changing the world's financial health, Barney founded Cleo in 2016. Armed with innovative ideas and an unyielding determination, he raised a staggering $137.5M in total funding, powering Cleo's journey to greatness.

📱Born as a Chatbot: The Story of Cleo's Origins

Imagine this: a chatbot living inside Facebook Messenger, whispering financial wisdom to young minds across the globe. That's the humble beginning of Meet Cleo!

Cleo goes the extra mile to give you full control of your finances, from tracking your spending to breaking it down by transaction, category, or merchant. Moreover, you can set aside money for your dreams, send cash to friends, donate to charity, and receive spending alerts – all through Cleo's user-friendly interface.

Lesson 1: Start Small, Dream Big ✍️