• Archie will identify and back high-potential, early-stage fintechs – partnering with the next generation of fintech disruptors that will define and lead the category
  • New fintech acceleration model will invest Archie’s intellectual capital, go-to-market expertise and growth toolkits, working alongside founders to accelerate their growth and leveraging the valuable ARCHIE NETWORK to build partnerships, support capital requirements and recruit talent
  • Global fintech funding totalled $75bn in 2022[1] taking total funding to over $350bn since 2018[2] – but fintechs need more than funding to successfully deliver go-to-market strategies, with 75% of VC-backed start-ups reportedly failing[3]

Sydney, London and Dubai: Archie – an innovative new fintech acceleration partner – today launches with a mission to scale the next generation of fintech disruptors that will define and lead the category.

With the belief that fintech founders need much more than financial backing to turn their ambitions into reality, Archie will identify and partner with a select portfolio of early-stage fintechs globally, working alongside founders to help supercharge their growth.

By investing intellectual capital and growth expertise into Series A & B firms at the most critical stage of their go-to-market strategy, Archie will improve the odds of high-potential fintechs breaking through and evolving from start-ups into sustained high-growth businesses.

Archie will initially focus on partnering with fintechs in Australia, the UK and the fast-expanding Middle East fintech market, where the team’s expertise, experience and networks are deepest and where they can help founders access global markets.

Led by one of fintech’s best-known serial entrepreneurs, Anthony Thomson (co-founder and former chair of Atom Bank, digital bank 86 400, and Metro Bank) with global tech and fintech leader Steve Brennen as founder CEO (Uber, PayPal, eBay & Zip), Archie brings together one of fintech’s strongest scale-up teams with deep expertise in delivering hyper-growth.

Archie will work side-by-side with fintech founders, deploying its team of experts to help supercharge partners’ growth, de-risk go-to-market strategies and maximise their chances of success.  Over the past twenty years, Archie’s team has been at the forefront of founding and scaling some of the world’s biggest brands and fintechs, including Uber, eBay, Paypal, Atom Bank and 86 400.

Co-Founder and Chair of Archie, Anthony Thomson says,

“Fintechs are a force of good – for years they’ve disrupted the financial services industry, providing better products, services and experiences for customers. But despite many great ideas, too many have fallen short, having not had the support they need.

“Archie will change that. Our team is perfectly positioned to offer the real hands-on, senior support they need. And crucially, provide it now, with it being more important than ever for fintechs to use resources in the right way.

“The Archie model means our years’ of global expertise are embedded and our interests aligned – creating partners out of practitioners and ensuring founders and their fintechs reach the heights they should.”

Co-Founder and Archie CEO, Steve Brennen says,

“Realising your dream and building a fintech isn’t easy. But truly scaling one is even harder. The Archie team has been there and done it, got the scars and the t-shirt.

“We have the know-how, expertise and experience of scaling global businesses. 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 & governance across tech and fintech, as well as accessing the ARCHIE NETWORK to ensure access to the right talent, partners and finance.

“We know there’s appetite for support just like this and I’m excited to help the next generation of fintech disruptors reach their potential – and help founders have the best journeys in doing so.”

Archie’s innovative new model will enable fintechs to superscale by offering:

  • experience, expertise & toolkits to lever them into hyper-growth;
  • operational support, developing and implementing Go-To-Market plans, leveraging Archie’s deep global fintech, banking and tech experience in strategy, marketing and sales in highly regulated markets;
  • access to senior board advisors – including experienced Chairs & CEOs Anthony Thomson and Paul Pester – to strengthen governance and strategy; and
  • access to the ARCHIE NETWORK to build partnerships, support capital requirements and recruit talent.

Offering a new partner model to accelerate fintech growth , Archie will invest its intellectual capital, go-to-market and growth expertise, along with the highly-prized ARCHIE NETWORK in exchange for equity.

This ‘equity first’ model is a key differentiator within the fintech ecosystem, designed specifically to ensure a true partnership with fintech founders, aligning all interests and focussing efforts on driving success.

Archie will be launching through a series of events across the rest of 2023, starting in Dubai on 12 September 2023. To find out more visit www.archiegrowth.com.

-Ends-

About Archie

Archimedes changed the world when he proved the application of the lever – ”give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world” – giving people the ability to build more, move more and create more with the right amount of leverage.

Archie, as Archimedes would be called today, was founded on the principle that great ideas should never die. Unfortunately, most companies fail to achieve their mainstream potential – and that’s where we come in. We provide early-stage fintech businesses with the levers needed to get them across “the chasm” and into hyper-growth.

Find out more at www.archiegrowth.com

The ARCHIE NETWORK

The ARCHIE NETWORK provides partners access to talent, regulators, service providers, distribution partners, and board and governance associates across multiple markets.

The Archie Team

The Archie team consists of some of fintech’s most experienced growth experts, investors and senior executives, including:

Anthony Thomson, Co-Founder and Chair

Anthony Thomson is a serial entrepreneur, having founded and chaired three banks on two continents, including Atom, one of Europe’s first digital banks, leading challenger Metro Bank, and the Australian digital bank 86 400.

Anthony currently sits on a number of boards and holds advisory roles for other leading businesses, including ASX listed Humm Group, ila Bank and Wio Bank.

Steve Brennen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

A highly awarded marketer and seasoned growth practitioner, Steve has held senior leadership roles for some of the world’s fastest-growing and most valuable brands, including Uber, PayPal, eBay, Virgin, Zip Co. Along with leading the Archie team, he is the current Chair of ADMA, the largest marketing association in APAC.

He has launched and scaled brands in more than 20 markets, acquired over 100M consumers at an acquisition cost of under $10, and taken three brands to the #1 global position.

Tommy Mermelshtayn, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy – global scaler and strategy, including roles at Zip and Equifax.

Richard McCandless, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer – brand and performance optimisation, including roles at FCB and Publicis Groupe.

Non-Executive Directors

Paul Pester, Non-Executive Director – Tandem Bank (Chair), Virgin Money & TSB (CEO), Loop (Founder), Cardeo (Chair), National Bank of Bahrain (Non-Executive Director)

Fawaz Zu’bi, Non-Executive Director –  Silicon Badia (Founder), Accelerator Technology Holdings (Founder & CEO) and former ICT Minister, Kingdom of Jordan

[1] CB Insights, State of Fintech 2022
[2] CB Insights, State of Fintech 2022
[3] The Venture Capital Secret: 3 out of 4 Start-ups Fail, Wall Street Journal, here