Clove launches with £10m pre-seed led by Accel to make financial advice accessible, affordable and personal

Clove, a new challenger in personal finance and wealth management, today exited stealth and announced that it has secured a £10m pre-seed funding round.

The funding was led by Accel, with participation from Kindred Capital, Air Street Capital and notable angel investors, including Barney Hussey-Yeo (CEO and founder, Cleo), Patrick Pichette (former CFO, Google) via Inovia Capital, Erez Mathan (CRO, GoCardless) and Gideon Valkin (ex-Monzo and ClearScore).

Created by proven tech founders Christian Owens (UK payments unicorn Paddle; $300m raised, valued at $1.4bn) and Alex Loizou (ecommerce marketplace Trouva, acquired by Made.com), Clove is on a mission to close the financial advice gap, which affects hundreds of millions of people globally and can both restrict economic growth and lead to worse financial outcomes for individuals.

The FCA estimates that those that receive financial advice can see an increase in wealth of up to 10% in the years following financial advice, relative to those that do not receive financial advice. It has introduced regulatory changes to help reduce the advice gap and support growth by enabling increased investment and innovation. Speaking about this issue in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: "Too many people are missing out on the support they need to build a more secure financial future for themselves and their families."

In the UK alone, 13 million mass-affluent individuals hold £3.8 trillion in investable assets. This includes more than 3.7m UK consumers who are both open to receiving professional financial advice and have more than £50,000 available to invest. The FCA estimates that there are 7 million adults in the UK with £10,000+ in cash savings who may be missing out on the benefits of investing throughout their lives.

Clove will use its pre-seed funding to continue building its team and platform with a view to a full launch in 2026, once authorisation by the FCA is approved. The company is actively searching for the UK’s most ambitious and innovative financial advisers, who want to play a key role in reshaping how financial advice is delivered.

huge section of society has been failed by the financial advice industry, because it is only able to serve those that are already wealthy. Today, less than one tenth of the UK population benefits from professional financial advice, and half of advisers have stopped servicing less wealthy clients. This isn’t an abstract problem. If you’re not making the most of your money then life milestones such as buying a home, starting a family, setting up a business or retiring early will feel more out of reach than they need to be.

Christian Owens, Co-founder & CEO

We believe that everyone deserves great financial advice. With Clove, we are seeking to break the traditional economics of financial advice by combining the expertise of human advisers with the efficiency of AI. Our goal is to make financial planning more accessible, affordable, and effective than ever before, for everyone from young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs, to growing families and those starting to think about retirement.

Alex Loizou, Co-founder & CPO

There is an urgent need to make financial expertise accessible to everyone. The right advice could help people to buy a home sooner, invest with confidence, and retire on their own terms. Christian and Alex combine a proven track record of building and scaling businesses, with a deep passion for solving this problem. We’re thrilled to back their vision as they seek to create a new kind of financial institution and strive to empower people to take control of their financial future.

Matt Robinson, Partner at Accel

🔗