Ex-Virgin Money chief Gadhia explores sale of finance app Snoop

Snoop, the moneysaving app arrange by the previous boss of Virgin Cash, is exploring a sale after receiving a sequence of unsolicited takeover approaches.

Sky Information has learnt that Snoop’s founder, Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, is working with bankers at Rothschild on plans to lift new capital or promote the corporate outright.

Snoop was launched in 2019 and makes use of so-called ‘open banking’ know-how to trace customers’ spending and promote methods for them to save cash.

Its app has been put in greater than 1.2m occasions and generated over £1m in income final 12 months, based on insiders.

The newest course of is just not the primary time she has acquired curiosity in buying the start-up.

In 2020, Sky Information revealed that it had had an method from Moneysupermarket, though the talks didn’t progress.

The identities of its newest suitors had been unclear on Tuesday, and a fundraising stays a powerful risk.

One individual near Snoop mentioned it required not more than £10m of recent funding to interrupt even.

The corporate’s present buyers embrace Paulson & Co, which at one stage ranked amongst Wall Avenue’s most profitable hedge funds, and people together with Sir Lloyd Dorfman, the Travelex billionaire.

A earlier fundraising valued the enterprise at £47m, however added that its fast progress meant future rounds of funding might worth the enterprise rather more richly.

It has additionally raised £10m by a crowdfunding marketing campaign.

Dame Jayne-Anne’s enterprise argues that it will probably save the typical British family £1,500-a-year in a interval when vitality payments and different dwelling prices have been rising sharply.

The previous Virgin Cash CEO, who additionally serves because the chair of HM Income & Customs, has mentioned there’s a £12bn whole saving for customers penalised for his or her loyalty and apathy.

Final month, she made headlines when it emerged that she had stepped down from the board of Unicredit, the Italian financial institution, following unsubstantiated allegations that she had leaked delicate details about executives’ remuneration.

Dame Jayne-Anne additionally lately turned chair of Moneyfarm, one other UK-based fintech specialising in wealth administration.

A Snoop spokesman mentioned: “We’re exploring all choices together with strategic funding or sale. We’ve already had vital curiosity within the enterprise, now we have a really sturdy proposition and importantly we will exhibit a transparent path to progress and profitability.”

Back To Top