MICHAEL
    WILKINSON

    Venture CatalystGrowth ArchitectMovement Maker

    Michael Wilkinson - Strategic Leader & Venture Builder
    Chapter 01

    My Story

    From those scrappy early days in a freezing Exeter office to venture building, scaling & consulting. Some epic highs, countless painful lessons and the privilege of working alongside founders who'd go on to change the world.

    2011

    Crowdcube

    Founding Team

    startup
    Crowdcube logo

    2011

    Top 20 UK Startups (Crowdcube)

    Startups.co.uk Awards

    award
    Top 20 UK Startups (Crowdcube) logo

    2013

    Fintech Fifty (Crowdcube)

    European Fintech Fifty Watch List

    award
    Fintech Fifty (Crowdcube) logo

    2015

    Techstars

    Mentor & Advisor

    advisor
    Techstars logo

    2015

    Pod Point

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Pod Point logo

    2015

    CityAM (Crowdcube)

    UK Growth Company of the Year

    award
    CityAM (Crowdcube) logo

    2016

    Monzo

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Monzo logo

    2016

    Virgin Startups

    Mentor & Advisor

    advisor
    Virgin Startups logo

    2016

    Revolut

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Revolut logo

    2016

    gohenry

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    gohenry logo

    2016

    Bloomberg Business Innovators (Crowdcube)

    Bloomberg Awards

    award
    Bloomberg Business Innovators (Crowdcube) logo

    2017

    Mindful Chef

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Mindful Chef logo

    2017

    Exeter MBA

    Executive MBA Programme

    education
    Exeter MBA logo

    2017

    Brewdog

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Brewdog logo

    2018

    Crowdcube

    Commercial & Operations Director

    scaleup
    Crowdcube logo

    2018

    Freetrade

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Freetrade logo

    2018

    Mr & Mrs Smith

    Venture Success & Growth (Crowdcube)

    portfolio
    Mr & Mrs Smith logo

    2018

    Xponential Spark

    Founder & Chief Strategy Consultant

    consulting
    Xponential Spark logo

    2019

    All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship

    Member & Advisor

    advisor
    All Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship logo

    2019

    Koodoo

    Interim CEO

    consulting
    Koodoo logo

    2020

    Propelia

    Chief Growth Officer

    fractional
    Propelia logo

    2020

    Juno

    Co-founder & CGO

    startup
    Juno logo

    2021

    Jolt MBA

    Lecturer

    teaching
    Jolt MBA logo

    2021

    EVERYTHING

    Co-founder & CEO

    startup
    EVERYTHING logo

    2022

    UK's Most Innovative Fintech Co. (EVERYTHING)

    Wealth & Finance International

    award
    UK's Most Innovative Fintech Co. (EVERYTHING) logo

    2022

    CURRENT

    Digital Catapult

    Strategy & Growth Consultant

    fractional
    Digital Catapult logo

    2022

    Hustle (EVERYTHING)

    Early Stage Innovation Award

    award
    Hustle (EVERYTHING) logo

    2023

    Mimo

    Board Advisor

    advisor
    Mimo logo

    2023

    LDN

    UK '40 under 40' Founder

    award
    LDN logo

    2025

    CURRENT

    Riskoa (EmVide)

    Board Advisor

    advisor
    Riskoa (EmVide) logo

    2025

    CURRENT

    AQai

    Chief Growth Officer

    fractional
    AQai logo
    2.13

    Million Customers Served

    Number of users across products I've built

    1,163

    Startups Supported

    Early stage companies I’ve worked with, coached, advised or supported

    893

    Partnerships Forged

    Partnerships forged across my career for companies or clients

    79

    Client Company Exits

    Number of companies i've worked with that have exited

    19

    Products Shipped

    Distinct products taken from idea to launch (incl. major feature lines)

    319

    Employees Led

    Number of people managed across roles and ventures

    ⚡

    Strategic Leadership

    Guiding organisations through complex transformations

    🌍

    Movement Building

    Creating coalitions that drive meaningful change

    🚀

    Venture Creation

    Building companies that scale and create lasting impact

    Chapter 02

    Ventures

    The why, the what, the how, the highs and the scarring lessons that made me who I am today. Strikes of serendipity, happy accidents earned by consistency, perfect and abhorrent timing and painfully earned resilience.

    Crowdcube logo

    Democratising Early Stage Investment

    B2B2C Fintech

    Crowdcube

    Europe's first and largest equity crowdfunding platform that democratised startup investment, enabling anyone to back growing businesses from £10 whilst helping entrepreneurs raise capital directly from their customers, friends, angels and VCs.

    £1.4B+ Raised
    Equity Crowdfunding
    FCA Regulated
    UK, Europe & USA
    Marketplace
    EVERYTHING logo

    Making Money Fun, Gamified & Better Together

    Consumer Fintech

    EVERYTHING

    The gamified money app transforming financial habits for Gen Z through behavioural economics, social accountability, community learning and reward-driven habit formation that makes personal finance fun and collaborative.

    40,000+ Sign-Ups
    Gamification
    Social Finance
    Gen Z
    Financial Wellness
    Juno logo

    Payments & Cashflow on Autopilot

    B2B Fintech

    Juno

    The Open Banking platform that solved endless payment chasing, giving UK SMEs automated cashflow control, valuable time back and the predictability to grow with confidence.

    5000+ SME Customers
    Open Banking
    SME Payments
    Cashflow Automation
    Venture Backed
    Xponential Spark logo

    Building Capability, Not Dependency

    Fractional Consultancy

    Xponential Spark

    The hands-on consultancy that turned scaling chaos into sustainable growth beyond the plateau, by embedding venture-backed methodology and discipline into corporates, startups, scale-ups and accelerators.

    250+ Startups Supported
    Strategy Consulting
    Fractional C-Suite
    Growth & Ops
    Board Advisory
    Chapter 04

    Media & Speaking

    Selected interviews, keynotes, features and articles exploring innovation, leadership and venture building.

    How might AI develop and what this could mean for our planet
    Webinar
    Featured
    Research Paper
    AI

    How might AI develop and what this could mean for our planet

    Artificial Intelligence is ranked by the World Economic Forum as one of the most impactful technological trends of our time. I question how AI might develop in the future and what this could mean for humanity and the other species we share our planet with. I zoom in on deep learning and general intelligence and review some of the most prominent thinking to tackling the problem, as well as recommending a development path of my own that we can action now to develop an AI future that we actually desire.

    The Startup Leader: What It Really Takes to Be a Challenger Brand
    Panel
    Featured
    YMS London
    Growth

    The Startup Leader: What It Really Takes to Be a Challenger Brand

    We’ll dig into how challenger brands actually win: turning constraints into an advantage, carving a sharp point-of-view, and building products people use daily. Drawing on lessons from Michael, Lulu, Yoann and Katie we’ll cover community-led growth without big budgets, earning trust in a regulated space, and tracking the few metrics that matter. Expect the messy middle too: launches that flopped, pivots that stuck, and keeping the team resilient. You’ll leave with stealable plays for rapid testing, storytelling that travels, partnerships that compound, and a rewards engine that drives habit—real talk on beating incumbents, warts and all.

    The Future of Fintech is Social
    Keynote
    Featured
    Tech BBQ Copenhagen
    Fintech

    The Future of Fintech is Social

    Explaining why 'The Future of Fintech is Social' was fun at TechBBQ in Copenhagen. Well organised and attended event with an engaged audience. Loved the little touches like silent disco style headphones for stages to limit noise interference.

    News: BNPL giant Klarna launches UK Card & EVERYTHING
    Podcast
    Featured
    11FS: Fintech Insider
    Fintech

    News: BNPL giant Klarna launches UK Card & EVERYTHING

    2022-01-31

    40 Under 40 Spotlight - Michael Wilkinson
    Feature
    Featured
    LDN
    Leadership

    40 Under 40 Spotlight - Michael Wilkinson

    2023-09-12

    Meet the startup reinventing premium bonds for Gen Z
    Article
    Featured
    Sifted
    Fintech

    Meet the startup reinventing premium bonds for Gen Z

    2022-01-22

    Chapter 05

    Awards

    Recognition, awards and honours across industries, markets and ventures.

    London Daily News logo

    Michael Wilkinson - 40 Under 40

    2023 • Personal

    London Daily News

    Worldwide Finance Awards logo

    Most Innovative Personal Banking Platform

    2023 • EVERYTHING

    Worldwide Finance Awards

    Bloomberg logo

    Business Innovators 2016

    2016 • Crowdcube

    Bloomberg

    City AM logo

    UK Growth Company of the Year

    2015 • Crowdcube

    City AM

    Santander logo

    Breakthrough50 Winner

    2014 • Crowdcube

    Santander

    Startups.co.uk Awards logo

    Top 20 UK Startups

    2011 • Crowdcube

    Startups.co.uk Awards

    Chapter 06

    Connect & Grow

    Whether you're scaling a category-defining venture, implementing transformational tech, building ecosystem programmes, or seeking strategic leadership to accelerate growth—let's explore what's possible.

    I Join Your Rocketship

    Full-time role with transformative companies

    We join forces on your exciting journey when the mandate is clear, and together we build a category-leading business that scales with discipline.

    Executive Leadership
    Long Term

    Plug Me in for Growth

    Operations, Product and Growth that delivers

    Hands-on COO/CPO/CGO to help you scale. I own the plan, execution and cadence, you build momentum.

    Fractional Engagement
    3+ Months

    From AI to ROI

    Implementation beyond the hype

    Cut through noise and implement AI where it pays and unlock a competitive advantage. Harness emerging technologies with purpose and precision.

    AI Delivery
    6+ Months

    Scale Yourself, Then the Company

    Individual coaching for entrepreneurial leaders

    Tailored coaching that bridges the gap between startup chaos and executing with clarity. Build adaptability, purpose-driven leadership, balance, well-being and resilience with me in your corner. Being a founder is hard but it needn't be lonely.

    Founder Coaching
    3+ Months

    Coach in Residence

    Dropping 14 years of venture building experience into your programme

    Bringing 14 years of venture building experience as structured support for accelerators, incubators and programmes: office hours, clinics, workshops and lectures.

    Programme Support
    Ad Hoc

    Design the Acceleration Engine

    Creating entrepreneurship initiatives that transform ecosystems

    I help institutions build entrepreneurship programmes that move the needle: clear selection, sprint-based delivery, operator-led content, and measurable outcomes.

    Programme Delivery
    12+ Months

    There's More To The Story

    Six chapters of building things, breaking things, growing ventures, making peace and winding down, delivering diverse projects, the buzz of event speaking, the odd dazzle of media spotlights and a little recognition too. The good calls and more than my fair share of lessons learned. Want the full story?

    Chapter 01

    My Story

    From scrappy early days to working with founders who changed the world.

    Chapter 1 of 6