Barney Hussey-Yeo is the straight-talking CEO of fast-growing UK FinTech Cleo.
Cleo is on a mission to change the way customers manage their money through its AI-powered technology.
The 34-year-old knows how to make the tech community sit up and take notice – and he didn’t disappoint with the opening line of his LinkedIn post this week.
“Cleo just hit $280m ARR,” he gushed. “We doubled revenue in a year and reached profitability.”
Hussey-Yeo has made no secret of his ambition to hit the fabled $1bn valuation metric to achieve unicorn status and has hinted at an IPO.
But who is the man hoping to be the UK’s 45th unicorn CEO?
Between 2010-2013, Hussey-Yeo took a computer science degree at The Manchester Metropolitan University before completing his Masters at University of Bristol in machine learning.
After leaving university he landed a job as a data scientist at the controversial payday lender Wonga.
By the time Wonga collapsed into administration in 2018, Hussey-Yeo’s 13-month stint had long since ended in 2015.
Then came his sliding doors moment. He was introduced to Matt Clifford, who co-founded the world’s leading talent investor Entrepreneurs First.
Clifford recently stepped down from his role as Keir Starmer’s AI adviser having helped the government on its AI strategy.
He persuaded Hussey-Yeo to join Entrepreneurs First to help him achieve his ambition of building a company from scratch.
By the time he’d finished the Entrepreneurs First programme in March 2016, Hussey-Yeo had already launched Cleo, initially from his bedroom.
According to Companies House, its registered address is listed in Altrincham, Cheshire, but it was built in London.
But it was far from an overnight success and Hussey-Yeo has spoken about how he couldn’t even persuade his then girlfriend or Mum to sign up at the beginning.
He was also scratching around for a name until he started reading about the legendary Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt, and settled on Cleo.
One of the early iterations of Cleo was a simple feature that told consumers if they were running out of money.
It was hugely popular and represented something of an epiphany moment for Hussey-Yeo.
By using conversational AI he could appeal to the Gen Z population and help them manage their money better.
Cleo was well and truly on its way and the investors loved it.
In May 2017 LocalGlobe led a $2.5m Seed round. A year later established tech investor Balderton Capital led a $10m Series A round.
This was followed by a $44m Series B led by EQT Ventures in Dec 2020 and an $80m Series C led by Sofina followed in June 2022.
Cleo, which describes itself as the ‘financial genius that sits in your pocket’, today employs around 400 people worldwide and has doubled subscribers every year since 2021.
Cleo raises £66m to help Gen Z weather cost-of-living crisis
Hussey-Yeo took the decision to focus on the US market and he hasn’t been afraid to speak on a range of issues, including UK taxation and AI.
In 2024 he wrote on X: “It’s sad to see so many great companies and founders decided to leave the UK with the uncertainty around taxation and the competitiveness of late stage capital markets.
“Founders are already leaving the UK. They increasingly start their business in the US and no serious tech company would today decide to list on the LSE in its current form.”
And he had his message for Chancellor Rachel Reeves. “If growth is the priority,” he wrote. “Let’s make the UK the number one place to start and scale an AI business.”
But what next for Cleo and its outspoken CEO?
The company has just launched the biggest upgrade to Cleo’s intelligence in a decade with Cleo 3.0, which it describes as ‘more human than ever’.
“Talk to Cleo like you would a friend,” it says on the blurb. “She remembers your financial life, goals, and how you want to be spoken to – with more depth than ever.”
Cleo 3.0 could pave the way to Hussey-Yeo’s ambition of achieving unicorn status and a possible IPO in the next year or two if they can continue their growth story.