The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Mar 2022

Apollo Agriculture provides loans to smallholder farmers in Kenya, originating and servicing smallholder loan receivables often to first-time borrowers and many women. The company packages pools of these farmer loans and can securitize them to access local-currency capital, addressing prior challenges of borrowing in foreign currencies and hedging costs. In the described transaction Apollo sold nearly 24,000 loans through Kaleidofin’s Ki platform to mobilize 276 million Kenyan shillings. The securitization received a BBB- rating from Agusto and was structured with regulatory support from UK-funded FSD Africa. Apollo plans this deal as the first in a multi-year program expected to generate 2.4 billion Kenyan shillings and expand its lending to over 130,000 farmers. The company is based in Nairobi.

Participated · Series B · Sep 2021

Numan is a UK digital healthtech company that delivers personalised, integrated care on a single platform, including clinical guidance, medication, behavioural health coaching, diagnostics and supplements. It focuses on stigmatised conditions such as obesity and testosterone deficiency and has treated over 650,000 patients across obesity management, men’s health, and diagnostics. Numan reported $90M in 2024 revenue, saw revenue more than double year-on-year, achieved profitability 18 months ago, and maintains a market-leading NPS of 68. The company plans to expand into female health and deepen patient relationships through enhanced screening and preventive care programmes. Funding will also support scaling the platform’s infrastructure, expanding marketing to reach more patients, and advancing AI-driven capabilities in a clinically responsible manner. Leadership frames the raise as a move to scale what works after strong commercial performance and high patient engagement. Numan operates a subscription service addressing men’s health issues including hair loss, gut and lung health, sexual health, and nutritional deficiencies. Its product set includes an AI-powered symptom checker, online access to medical professionals, prescription medication, at-home blood testing, and consumer health products. The company has recently launched its blood testing proposition in the UK and acquired Swedish medical science and healthcare technology company Vi-Health last year. Numan says it has grown revenues by almost three times year-on-year. It plans to launch new therapeutic areas in men’s health, expand internationally, and aims to double its headcount in 2022. The firm positions itself as a consumer health brand for men in Europe. Numan offers a subscription-based digital healthcare service for men, covering erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, hair loss, gut and lung health, and nutritional deficiencies. The company enables remote testing, including blood tests that do not require in-person appointments. Post-pandemic demand for remote health and behavioral support has accelerated adoption of Numan’s model. Numan is regulated by the Care Quality Commission as a registered healthcare provider. The company has expanded both organically and via two strategic acquisitions in the U.K. and Sweden to broaden its footprint. In an internal survey of 800 subscribers, 88% said Numan improved their confidence and 68% said it improved their relationships, while over half reported the pandemic gave them a more positive impression of digital healthcare. Launched almost 18 months ago, Numan joined a growing set of sites targeting men’s health. It began by promoting accessible medical remedies for erectile dysfunction and has since expanded into other areas, building a brand around pharmaceuticals on subscription. The company positions itself as providing simple and accessible solutions for men’s health and wellbeing. Numan closed a £10 million Series A to support its growth. It plans to use the funds to continue investing in technology, expand operations and grow the team. Sam Shah, former CEO of NHSX, recently joined Numan as chief medical strategy officer, and Birgir Már Ragnarsson of Novator will join the board.

Led · Equity · Mar 2021

Now Money provides digital banking and payroll services aimed at closing the financial inclusion gap for low-income and migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The company offers multilingual mobile applications that enable bill payments, savings accounts, remittances and complements digital services with in-person financial literacy training. It positions itself as a low-cost, secure option for underserved workers and has emphasized product and technology development. The recent funding will be used to expand operations across the region and to improve its technology product offerings. Leadership highlighted the investment as validation of Now Money’s vision and its potential socio-economic impact. The company previously underwent an acquisition in 2023 by Mark Nutter and Nicolas Andine, and continues to scale its inclusion-focused product set. Now Money provides a digital banking solution for low-income migrant workers, featuring accounts, low-cost remittance, and contactless-enabled Visa cards. The company partners with employers to deliver an end-to-end digital payroll solution via a payroll portal that lets companies transfer salaries and financial rewards directly to employees' NOW Money app. Founded in 2016 by Katharine Budd and Ian Dillon and based in Dubai, the fintech serves migrant workers in the UAE. Now Money plans to expand its digital banking solution into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, starting with strategic hires and local infrastructure in Riyadh. It also intends to further develop its service offering and continue growth in the UAE. Recently it secured $7M in funding to support these plans. NOW Money uses mobile banking technology to deliver accounts, financial inclusion, and low-cost remittance options to low-income migrant workers across the GCC. The company aims to provide affordable financial services at scale and improve outcomes for the 26 million unbanked in the region. In the last 12 months it has won six awards and its co-founders speak and are featured regularly at FinTech events and publications. A year after an initial seed funding round that helped expand the team and develop the technology and brand, NOW Money secured a further investment of $700,000. With this latest capital—part of its seed round—the team plans to launch service across the UAE and expand into other GCC countries. The company presents a socially focused, digital-first neobank model targeting migrant-worker remittances and financial access.

Participated · Series A · May 2019

YuLife offers group life insurance and complementary protection products through a gamified mobile app called the “Yuniverse” that encourages walking, cycling, meditation and other wellness activities. The company sells exclusively to organizations, with more than 500 businesses (including Co-op, Del Monte, Jaguar Land Rover, Santander and CapitalOne) providing YuLife plans to employees; roughly one in three employees engage on the app daily. Group life is the flagship product and accounts for over 80% of revenues; other products (critical illness, income protection and dental) make up the remaining ~20%. YuLife supplements engagement with third-party discounts and a rewards currency (YuCoins) redeemable for vouchers, and it attributes revenues to insurance policy sales. The business has grown rapidly: customers expanded 4x in the past year, revenues rose fivefold, and coverage increased to $50 billion from $15 billion a year earlier. YuLife is expanding its product suite into dental, health and financial services (pensions) and is preparing market expansion to the U.S. and Japan. YuLife is a London startup that sells life insurance directly to organizations, who in turn provide policies to their employees, and it is currently active only in the U.K. Its core product is a gamified mobile app — built by veterans of the gaming industry — that encourages walking, cycling, meditation and other healthy activities across themed "Yuniverse" environments and rewards users with YuCoins redeemable for vouchers. The company also offers income protection and critical illness cover and integrates discounts on third-party products and devices to drive engagement. YuLife operates an affiliate-based business model that benefits when users purchase and redeem offered items, though redemption is not essential to policy use. As of the article, YuLife provides $15 billion of coverage and reported 10x growth in the last year, with customers including Capital One, Co-op, Curve, Havas Media, Severn Trent and Sodexo. The company plans to use new funding to expand its business, build more products on its platform, and continue investing in the technology and risk models that run its service. yulife is a London-based life insurer founded in 2016 by Sammy Rubin that integrates wellbeing into its insurance product. The company offers an end-to-end digital journey aimed at large companies and SMEs to streamline the buying process. It engages members directly via a wellbeing app that encourages simple activities such as walking and meditation. Members are rewarded for completing activities with Avios air miles, vouchers and gift cards from partners including Amazon and ASOS. yulife balances protecting beneficiaries with rewarding members for living well now and plans to use new funds to further develop its product and reach more businesses. yulife provides a game-based wellbeing app that leverages AI and behavioural science to deliver digital life insurance and encourage users to build positive daily habits. Users earn 'yucoin' for small lifestyle changes—walking, meditating via apps like Calm—and progress through levels, company leaderboards and quests. Yucoin can be redeemed for partner rewards such as Avios points, ASOS vouchers and NowTV passes. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in London, UK. Global insurance company AIG underwrites all policies. The team is led by CEO Sammy Rubin and includes COO Sam Fromson, CTO Josh Hart, CFO Jonathan Roomer, CPO Jaco Oosthuizen and Chief Wellbeing Officer Dr Rangan Chatterjee.

Participated · Seed · Sep 2018

Wayhome offers Gradual Homeownership, a hybrid part-buy, part-rent model that lets customers buy homes worth up to 10x household income with a 5% deposit and without requiring a mortgage. Led by CEO Nigel Purves, the company deploys capital to purchase customer properties and currently has an annual deployment rate of £100m. Wayhome plans to use the £8M Series A to deepen partnerships with mortgage brokers and lenders in the coming months. The raise is intended to help the leadership team double deployment to £200m per year within 12 months. Investors in the round include existing backers Allianz X and Augmentum Fintech alongside new funds Volution, Love Ventures and Cur8 Capital. The company is based in London. Wayhome offers a product called Gradual Homeownership, a hybrid tenure that lets customers buy a home with a 5% deposit and no mortgage, enabling purchases up to ~10x income. The company says it does not charge customers fees and instead earns contractual, long-term revenue from pension funds that invest in the homes. Revenue comes from a purchase fee (1% while deploying the initial £75m fund, reverting to 2% thereafter) and a 0.8% annual management fee on capital invested by pension funds. Since launching in September 2021 the firm has completed 65 homes, has the next 100 offers accepted and says it has helped over 150 families. Wayhome reports an estimated potential gross profit of approximately £30k per home over a projected 12-year holding period. The company is incorporated in September 2016 and is based in London, UK. Unmortgage is a London startup offering a 'part-own, part-rent' product that enables customers to purchase as little as 5% of a home and rent the rest, avoiding a conventional mortgage. The company aims to launch next year and has just closed a £10 million seed round to support that rollout. Properties are revalued monthly so customers always have an up-to-date valuation when increasing their stake, and customers can buy more equity "from as little as a pound" at any time. Rent on the portion not owned is pegged to inflation, with an option for customers to request a rent review if inflation outpaces market rents. Customers can buy out Unmortgage with a mortgage or inheritance, or give three months' notice for Unmortgage to buy them out at market price. Unmortgage plans to use institutional funding to finance its share of purchased homes, targeting institutions that want residential exposure without acting as landlords.