Member Article

Teesside financial review startup to ‘move forward faster’ following six figure investment

Smart Money People, a Teesside-based financial review platform, has secured a six-figure investment from Northstar Ventures and the TwentyThreeMiles Fund, to fuel its future growth.

Founded by Michael Fotis in 2014, Smart Money People is the UK’s only customer experience and review platform focused on the financial services industry. It allows users to read and write customer reviews for over 400 financial brands, thereby helping them to find the best products and providers based on customer experience.

The investment will be used to grow Smart Money People’s team, develop its core platform further and support additional marketing activity.

The fast growing startup has already attracted a number of financial businesses across the insurance, banking and alternative finance sectors. It offers the businesses that join it a platform to attract more customers, unparalleled customer insight, and the opportunity to build greater trust and transparency within financial services.

Prior to launching Smart Money People, Michael worked as a management consultant at Deloitte, and led innovative digital and customer experience projects for leading banking and insurance companies.

Michael Fotis, 26, founder and CEO of Smart Money People said: “We wanted to build a new type of review platform, one that helps customers and businesses alike. With this investment we can move forward faster, and take the business to the next level.”

Alex Buchan, of Northstar Ventures said: “We are proud to be leading this investment round in what is a promising digital business. It is exciting to see an innovative platform that now has national reach flourish in the North East.”

Paul Callaghan, of TwentyThreeMiles Fund said: “Smart Money People is the first investment that the fund has made, and we are pleased to be part of this follow-on investment. The next phase of the business is exciting and we look forward to our continued involvement.”

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