The CEO of crisis FinTech Lanistar has seen his directorship at the company terminated amid reports that it has been hit by a winding-up petition.
Jeremy Baber joined the London-based company as director of banking and financial services in January 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile, and was made CEO a year later.
Companies House filings show that he was made a director on 19th January 2022. That directorship was terminated on Friday (13th September 2024).
Confirming to BusinessCloud in a LinkedIn message that he is no longer involved with the company, he commented: “I enjoyed my time at Lanistar and wish the team well.”
Conservative MP Gavin Williamson (pictured), a former Minister and chief whip of the party, joined as an advisor in October 2023. Baber told publication tech.eu that this was due to his connections in Africa, and also that Lanistar had pulled its energies away from the UK market to focus on Latin America.
At present, its website states that its services are ‘currently only available in Brazil’.
A spokesman for Williamson – currently facing a grilling by the UK COVID-19 inquiry on the impact of school closures on children during his time as Education Secretary – said today that “prior to the chief executive’s departure, Sir Gavin had already ceased to have any involvement with Lanistar”.
Among his ‘Register of Interests’, the UK Parliament continues to list his role as a ‘member of the advisory board at Lanistar Ltd… I will provide guidance, attend meetings and contribute ideas to the company for which I will receive shares which are currently under the registerable threshold’.
Financial News, citing court filings, reported last week that a winding-up petition had been brought against the company on 6th September 2024. A source told the publication that this petition was brought by its London landlord 361 Hammersmith Ltd because Lanistar was in “serious arrears” with its rent and service charge.
Unaudited accounts for Lanistar show it lost £4.1m last year and £2.5m in 2022.
Influencers & investors
Lanistar was founded in 2019 by Gurhan Kiziloz and quickly made headlines thanks to backing from more than 3,000 influencers, including footballers Kevin De Bruyne, Karim Benzema, Paulo Dybala, James Rodriguez and Luis Suarez; boxer Tommy Fury; and celebrities Chris Hughes, Demi Rose and Georgina Rodriguez.
The company targeted millennial and Gen Z users with its Volt polymorphic payment cards, which it claimed could be linked to up to eight bank cards. The brand aimed to rack up a billion unique social media impressions on just the first day; however commentators pointed out that some of the influencers had broken advertising rules by not labelling their posts as promoted content.
In July 2020, Lanistar announced a £15 million investment from Milaya Capital, which was said to value the business at £150m. Kiziloz told BusinessCloud that his aim was to build a £1 billion business. However, three months on, Lanistar’s PR representatives contacted BusinessCloud to request that we change the story to remove all reference to Milaya Capital and say instead that “family members of CEO, Gurhan Kiziloz” had provided the investment. They also requested that a quote attributed to Yasam Ayavefe, founder and CEO of Milaya Capital, be removed.
FCA warning
Months later it hit the headlines again in a negative fashion when regulator the Financial Conduct Authority issued a warning against Lanistar, stating that the firm was providing services or products without authorisation.
Within days the FCA withdrew its warning following changes made by Lanistar, stating: “The firm agreed to add an appropriate disclaimer to its marketing materials updating its regulatory status to confirm that it is not conducting regulated activities. The firm is also going to amend certain aspects of its website. On that basis we have removed the consumer warning.”
A winding-up petition followed in February 2022 as Visa-backed Global Processing Services, which processed payments for the company, attempted – unsuccessfully – to close it down over unpaid debts.
BusinessCloud has contacted Lanistar for comment.