{"id":533310,"date":"2025-10-28T13:27:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533310\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T13:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:27:15","slug":"who-is-cleo-founder-heading-fan-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/533310\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Cleo founder heading fan bid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SportTech<\/a>FinTech<\/a><\/p>\n

A tech entrepreneur behind FinTech unicorn Cleo has set his sights on his boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday, emerging as a leading voice among fans seeking to revive the crisis-hit Championship side.<\/p>\n

Barney Hussey-Yeo, whose AI-powered app has become one of the UK\u2019s most successful FinTech exports, went public with his interest in rescuing the club on X (formerly Twitter) last week.<\/p>\n

He wrote on Friday: \u201cAny founder or investor friends a Wednesday fan?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThinking about how we might save and turn around the club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDM me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just days later, the 36-year-old followed up with a passionate message epitomising feelings shared throughout the Owls\u2019 fanbase after recent movements.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheffield Wednesday is older than Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal, even Real Madrid,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFour league titles. Three FA Cups. 157 years of history and a fan base that never left.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happened under Chansiri is a disgrace. The threat of expulsion from the Football League, like Bury, is real \u2013 and we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are only two viable futures:<\/p>\n

\u201cA. A genuine multi-billionaire with the capital for a serious Premier League push.<\/p>\n

\u201cB. Fan ownership: sustainable, community-led, built on Wednesday\u2019s academy and loyalty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything in between, another under-capitalised gamble, risks killing the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cWednesday deserves ambition, integrity, and belief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWednesday till I die. And that day isn\u2019t today.\u201d<\/p>\n

A club in crisis<\/b><\/p>\n

Hussey-Yeo\u2019s rallying cry comes as Sheffield Wednesday face one of the most turbulent periods in its 157-year history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The club entered administration on 24 October 2025, effectively ending Dejphon Chansiri\u2019s decade-long ownership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chansiri, who took over in 2015, presided over years of financial instability, fan unrest and managerial change.<\/p>\n

While his early years brought optimism and two near-misses at Premier League promotion \u2013 including the 2016 play-off final defeat to Hull City \u2013 the latter half of his tenure was dominated by controversy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The club was hit with a points deduction for breaching EFL financial rules in 2020-21 and were relegated to League One that season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They returned to the second tier in 2023 following a dramatic play-off campaign, which included a historic comeback win over Peterborough United, but are now under five EFL embargoes.<\/p>\n

Wages have also been paid late for five of the last seven months.<\/p>\n

Fan protests intensified through 2024 and 2025, with supporters accusing Chansiri of mismanagement and financial opacity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His departure, while long demanded by many fans, has left the club in a precarious state, but also opened the door to new ownership and potential renewal.<\/p>\n

\n

Barney Hussey-Yeo: Is this the UK\u2019s next unicorn CEO?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From FinTech to football<\/strong><\/p>\n

But who is the entrepreneur looking to apply the same successful approach to his boyhood club as he has done to his startup?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hussey-Yeo studied computer science at Manchester Metropolitan University before completing a Master\u2019s in machine learning at the University of Bristol.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After an early stint as a data scientist at Wonga, he was mentored by Matt Clifford, co-founder of Entrepreneurs First, and launched Cleo in 2016 from his bedroom.<\/p>\n

Cleo, registered in Altrincham but now based in London, uses conversational AI to help young people manage their money and has grown rapidly, boasting $280 million in annual recurring revenue as well as profitability.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Backed by top-tier investors including LocalGlobe, Balderton Capital, EQT Ventures, and Sofina, the business employs around 400 people globally and has become a fixture in the UK and US FinTech scenes.<\/p>\n

Hussey-Yeo has also gained a reputation as one of tech\u2019s most outspoken voices, frequently calling for reforms to make Britain \u201cthe number one place to start and scale an AI business\u201d.<\/p>\n

A fan with a mission<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, the entrepreneur\u2019s focus appears to be shifting from AI and finance to football and community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His public posts have given some supporters hope that there is someone with both the business acumen and authentic emotional connection to steer Wednesday into a new era.<\/p>\n

No formal bid has been announced yet, but Hussey-Yeo\u2019s interest could give some fans revived faith in the future of their historic club.<\/p>\n

\n

200 jobs at risk as Revolut & Monzo-backed Robin AI listed for sale<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SportTechFinTech A tech entrepreneur behind FinTech unicorn Cleo has set his sights on his boyhood club Sheffield Wednesday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,25554,393,4884,1620,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-533310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-businesscloud","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-sheffield","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115452030775198786","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}