ilumoni, a start-up app which aims to help people to borrow well, has raised £1.2 million in an over-subscribed seed funding round.
The AI-driven FinTech, based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, had previously raised £455,000 in pre-seed funding, which saw the initial build of the first version of the app.
The app went on to receive full FCA authorisation in January of 2021 and has already attracted its first beta users.
The free-to-use app helps people to understand and manage their borrowing better. ilumoni delivers rich, personal insights into how users borrow and repay, with full visibility of what they owe, including how long it will take to repay and how much their borrowing will cost in interest.
This is combined with prompts and future scenarios that users can interact with to find repayment amounts or alternative products that cost less in interest, help pay balances sooner, or free up cash.
The latest round of investment has attracted an additional 20–plus angel investors to the business and will take the product to market, with App and Play Store releases planned for later in the year.
In addition to the funding, ilumoni has appointed two Non-Executive Directors to its board, new investor James Eden and existing investor Simon Moran.
Eden commented: “While there are many emerging tools that champion consumers’ financial degrees of freedom, there aren’t any that provide an independent view of borrowing and debt, despite the impact it can have on people’s financial and mental wellbeing.
“The purpose behind ilumoni, level of innovation and credentials of the team were more than enough to convince me this was an investment worth making. So much so that I am delighted also to be joining the board.”
ilumoni CEO Gary Wigglesworth added: “We’re thrilled to have such a ringing endorsement of ilumoni with an over-subscribed funding round. There is a huge opportunity to help people to borrow well and it’s more important now than ever.”