Using AI to close in on unicorn status
In brief:
Suddenly, all eyes are on the UK’s artificial intelligence businesses. This week’s announcement that Wayve, the British self-driving car start-up, has raised $1 billion in Europe’s biggest ever AI deal, has focused attention on who might be next. And one name on many people’s radars is Cleo, the financial support business founded by Barney Hussey-Yeo in 2017.
Cleo certainly has things in common with Wayve, including shared investor Balderton Capital, which was an early backer of Cleo and has committed significant funds to the company. It’s also London-based and has deployed proven technology in a rapidly growing market.
Indeed, if anything, Cleo is further down the road to commercialisation, with some 600,000 paying customers already signed up in the US – and more than 10 times as many using free versions of the app. That has seen it lauded by analysts such as Sifted, the Financial Times-backed web site, which has described Cleo as “the only European fintech that’s cracked the US”.
What does this mean?
Today, Hussey-Yeo is determined to capitalise on these early successes. “We want to be the AI service for financial services,” says Hussey-Yeo. “Our ambition is to get to more than 1 billion customers.” “Our view is that in the near future, you’re going to have these digital assistants in every part of your life,” explains Hussey-Yeo. “We’re going to be the one you turn to for help with your finances.”
