Me in the UK

I landed in London and attended Finovate—a cozy, insider event back then—and instantly fell in love with fintech. This trip reshaped my entire career.

I met some incredible people who'd shape my path:

An Anthemis Group partner introduced me to Fidor bank—one of the first digital banks.

With Alexey Navalny (who later passed away in prison) and Vladimir Ashurkov (now a political refugee in London and a friend), I launched Navalny Card—a fintech project with a social and AML twist.

Read the book on Waterstones →

I launched my venture fund SREDA.VC (Life.SREDA VC) and hosted the "Money of the Future" conference in Skolkovo.

Sir Richard Branson headlined, giving a talk and meeting entrepreneurs. Other stars included:

• Josh Reich — Simple bank (the world's first digital bank)
• Brett King — Moven bank
• Matthias Kroener — Fidor bank
• Nigel Verdon — CurrencyCloud
• Alexey Navalny — Special pre-event speaker

Back at Finovate, I joined Anthemis Group as a limited partner (LP) for 2013–2015, diving deeper into the UK fintech scene.

I became the second investor in SumUp, a UK-registered startup that later achieved decacorn status (€8B+ valuation).

SumUp press release →

In April 2016, SumUp acquired UK rival Payleven, dominating the UK, EU, and Latin America.

TechCrunch coverage →

At Finovate, I connected with the founders of the UK's next-generation banks:

I brought my friend Edward Panteleev (Tochka bank); he later launched Anna.money in the UK with Railsbank in 2018.

With Chris Skinner, David Brear, and Simon Taylor, I launched the Banking on Blockchain (BB) Fund—a $100M blockchain-focused venture fund.

Institutional Investor named me one of the Top 35 Fintech Investors worldwide.

Finovate in London saw me listed among the Top 21 Fintech Influencers in Europe by Disruptive Finance.

I ramped up investments in UK startups via Crowdcube and Seedrs, backing the next big things.

I launched Arival digital bank, which won FinovateAsia 2018 Best of Show just six months later in Hong Kong.

Arival also received:

• Silver Award at the London Design Awards
• Recognition in the Digital category at the DRIVENxDESIGN awards, joining giants like PayPal and Stripe

Award details →

Arival raised £1.8 million ($2.3M) on Crowdcube, smashing its £700,000 goal with a £12 million pre-money valuation.

In 2020, we obtained a U.S. banking license in Puerto Rico.

With Nigel Verdon and Railsbank, Arival (now U.S.-licensed with $13M AUM) expanded worldwide, cementing its global fintech status.

Arival drew acquisition interest from:

• Arrival — UK electric bus decacorn
• Oleg Tinkov — Tinkoff Bank founder (then in London)
• DEEL — Israeli-American decacorn (made offer)

I started stepping back, leaving fully on March 1, 2023.

I met Mikhail Khodorkovsky in London to discuss Putin's war on Ukraine and relaunching Navalny Card with Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF).

Barnes & Noble →

Navalny's death in prison two years later hit hard.

I secured a UK Global Talent Visa, backed by an incredible roster:

British supporters:

International supporters:

CPS story on the spy ring →

I moved from LA to London, diving into digital identity, CBDCs, and govtech.

London conversations:

LA connection: Prof. Oleg Itskhoki (Harvard, Princeton, 2022 Clark Medalist)