“A huge section of society has been failed by the financial advice industry, because it is only able to serve those that are already wealthy,” commented Christian Owens, CEO and Co-founder of Clove. “Today, less than one tenth of the UK population benefits from professional financial advice, and half of advisers have stopped servicing less wealthy clients.”
Clove’s pre-Seed positions it among the more strongly backed early-stage players in Europe’s 2025 WealthTech landscape.
Comparable activity this year includes Belgium-based WARREN, which secured €3 million to advance its employee financial wellness platform; UK-founded Wealthyhood, raising €3.6 million to expand its investment and savings app; and Berlin-based NAO, which added over €1 million to scale its co-investment advisory platform.
Compared with these smaller rounds, Clove’s raise underscores a heightened level of investor confidence in UK-led innovation aimed at closing the financial advice gap.
“We believe that everyone deserves great financial advice,” commented Alex Loizou, Chief Product Officer and Co-founder, Clove. “With Clove, we are seeking to break the traditional economics of financial advice by combining the expertise of human advisers with the efficiency of AI. Our goal is to make financial planning more accessible, affordable, and effective than ever before, for everyone from young professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs, to growing families and those starting to think about retirement.”
Founded in 2025 by proven tech founders Christian Owens (UK payments unicorn Paddle; $300 million raised, valued at $1.4 billion) and Alex Loizou (e-commerce marketplace Trouva, acquired by Made.com), Clove is on a mission to close the financial advice gap, which affects hundreds of millions of people globally and can both restrict economic growth and lead to worse financial outcomes for individuals.
The FCA estimates that those that receive financial advice can see an increase in wealth of up to 10% in the years following financial advice, relative to those that do not receive financial advice. It has introduced regulatory changes to help reduce the advice gap and support growth by enabling increased investment and innovation.
Speaking about this issue in the UK, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, said: “Too many people are missing out on the support they need to build a more secure financial future for themselves and their families.”
In the UK alone, 13 million mass‑affluent individuals hold £3.8 trillion in investable assets. This includes more than 3.7 million UK consumers who are both open to receiving professional financial advice and have more than £50,000 available to invest. The FCA estimates that there are 7 million adults in the UK with £10,000+ in cash savings who may be missing out on the benefits of investing throughout their lives.
“This isn’t an abstract problem,” added Owens. “If you’re not making the most of your money then life milestones such as buying a home, starting a family, setting up a business or retiring early will feel more out of reach than they need to be.”
“There is an urgent need to make financial expertise accessible to everyone,” said Matt Robinson, Partner at Accel. “The right advice could help people to buy a home sooner, invest with confidence, and retire on their own terms. Christian and Alex combine a proven track record of building and scaling businesses, with a deep passion for solving this problem. We’re thrilled to back their vision as they seek to create a new kind of financial institution and strive to empower people to take control of their financial future.”