London-based Clove raises fresh funding to help more people get financial guidance. Clove team | Image credit: Accel London-based Clove, a wealth management platform, has raised funding to expand its financial services. Clove, a London-based wealth management startup, has raised fresh funding from Accel to make financial advice more accessible and affordable for a new generation of customers. Matt Robinson, Partner at Accel, mentions the financial advice industry mainly serves individuals who already hold significant wealth, leaving many without access to guidance. To address this, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has introduced regulatory changes that encourage low-cost, segmented advice. Robinson says that despite available services, many customers remain dissatisfied with existing providers that charge high fees and deliver limited offerings. He adds that customer expectations have shifted toward digital platforms, while traditional firms have been slow to adapt. "These factors create the ideal conditions for a new kind of financial institution - one built for trust and scale - to come into the market. Enter Clove." Developing a financial institution for the next generation. Clove aims to address the gap in the financial advice market, where current services mainly target individuals who are already wealthy. It plans to build a service that combines human expertise with technology to deliver financial guidance at scale. The startup was founded by Christian Owens and Alex Loizou. Owens previously founded Paddle, a global payments infrastructure company that raised over $300M and achieved unicorn status. Loizou co-founded Trouva, an e-commerce marketplace later acquired by Made.com. The founders aim to make financial expertise available to a wider audience and help people make informed decisions around key life milestones such as buying a home, starting a family, or retiring. "We believe there is no better team to take on the challenge of making financial advice more accessible, more affordable and more effective than ever before. We're looking forward to backing their vision as they seek to create a new kind of financial institution," says Matt Robinson, Partner at Accel. "Right from our first meeting, it was clear that Christian and Alex are incredibly passionate about the problem and the impact that solving it could have for customers. Their starting premise was that this remains a deeply human problem, and we were excited by the unique insights they had developed around how to offer approachable, human financial advice that is supercharged by AI," adds Robinson.

Clove raises $14 million pre-seed round to make money make sense. Clove, a wealth-tech platform, led by Christian Owens and Alex Loizou, has secured £10m ($14m) in pre-seed funding, led by Accel with participation from Kindred, Air Street, and a group of incredible angel investors. Despite advances in consumer technology, financial guidance has barely evolved. While products exist to move money or invest, few help answer critical questions about timing, trade-offs, and future planning. Moreover, the financial advice industry largely serves only those who are already wealthy. Only 9% of people in the UK receive professional financial advice, and with half of advisers ceasing service to less wealthy clients, the gap is widening. The FCA estimates 7 million UK adults with £10,000+ in savings may be missing out on long-term investing benefits. This is not just a UK issue, it's global. Clove believes financial advice should be accessible, affordable, and personal. The financing enables focus on two priorities: building a better way to deliver financial advice and expanding the team. By combining human advisers with AI, high-quality, personalized guidance can be delivered at scale. AI reduces administrative burdens, allowing advisers to focus on helping clients make better decisions. The team will grow carefully, adding advisers, engineers, designers, and operators to reimagine how financial advice works. This effort is part of a long-term mission to create a new kind of financial institution, with advice as just the beginning.

London-based fintech startup Clove has launched with $14M in pre-seed funding led by Accel to address the financial advice gap. Founded by Christian Owens and Alex Loizou, Clove aims to make financial advice accessible by combining regulated human advisers with AI. The startup seeks to serve a broader range of clients, addressing the issue that current financial services often only cater to the wealthy.