Fintech Founder / Investor / Researcher / Regulated Operator
Built a thematic fintech investment platform before "fintech" became a standard allocation category. 20+ early-stage investments across US, Europe and Asia. Used Money of the Future research as a distribution, thesis-building and relationship engine rather than conventional fund marketing.
Foreign founder proposing a new US-linked bank for international, high-risk, or non-standard clients. Universally advised as "impossible." Decomposed the "no" into discrete legal, capital, tech, and compliance queries. Adapted the presentation to regulatory logic without hiding the model. Obtained licence IFE-065 after 2.5 years. Turned compliance from a back-office blocker into a core product design language.
Approaching identity not just from cryptography, but from operational KYC/EDD/AML constraints (BASIS ID, A.ID early investor/advisor). Reusable identity, consented transfer of verified data, and institutional acceptance. Expanding identity as infrastructure for excluded groups (refugees, visas, opposition figures).
Four-node trust graph (humans, orgs, products, AI) via verifiable delegation and revocable relationship credentials.
World ID/Orb analysis and biometric kiosk replications. Hands-on hardware experiments (Olares One, mini-PC/eGPU).
Decentralised compute, prosumer AI hardware, brownfield energy assets for AI-focused data centres.
Digital public infrastructure, voting administration, resilient communications, civilian preparedness.
Decomposed regulatory constraints to secure Arival Bank International Corp licence IFE-065 after 2.5 years of continuous regulatory translation.
Designed middleware, core banking integrations, and compliance systems. Reached $25m+ funding, 60+ team, $1bn+ transaction volume across 26 countries.
Repositioned compliance from a back-office blocker into a core product feature allowing service to non-standard segments.
Founded Life.SREDA before fintech was standard vocabulary. 20+ investments, Money of the Future reports as industry artefacts.
SumUp: added value during critical period when other investors refused. Founder-friendly terms, low interference.
Uses books, sites, and prototypes as indirect routes into companies and markets when direct proposals are insufficient.
AI infrastructure, semiconductor strategy, memory as strategic asset
Revolut strategic analysis, neobank ecosystem, digital identity
| Lens | Lead With (Evidence) | Target Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Regulated Operator | Arival licence, compliance tech, banking rails | Regulated fintechs, BaaS, stablecoins, correspondent banking |
| Product / Innovation | Arival CPO, zero-to-one delivery, book prototypes | Founder/CEO's Office, Special Projects, Transformation&Innovations |
| Identity & Trust | BASIS ID / A.ID, digital identity research, DID&AI prototyping | Tools for Humanity (World ID), govtech, trust/safety |
| VC / EiR | SREDA.Ventures (SumUp bet), InspirAsia | Venture funds, accelerators, corporate venture |
| Applied Researcher | Licence as praxis, DOI publications | Funded PhD, fellowships, think-tanks |
| AI Foresight | NextDoor\DePin Compute, hardware labs, dram.gold | Hardware strategy, energy/compute investors |
| UK\EU DefenceTech | defence.is, resilient and dual-use defencetech communications research | DASA/UKDI, public-interest technology |