Revolut's first two hires start an AI wealth app called Haido

Sifted reports that Haido raised 5 million US dollars. The London startup is an AI wealth app by two of Revolut's earliest employees. It opened a waitlist on 5 November.

The founders are Veronique Barbosa, employee number 4 at Revolut, and Tom Reay, employee number 1. Both are now building Haido for retail consumers rather than wealthy clients.

Who is backing it

Eileen Burbidge, co-founder of Passion Capital and a former Tide chair, is on the angel line. So is Laurence Twelvetrees, Revolut's first head of risk, per fintech.garden. Sifted names 5 million US dollars as the round size. Other independent reporting by WealthTechStrategy, Finextra and Neue Alchemy does not disclose the amount.

The two founders have built one company together already. After Revolut they started Flux, a receipt-data company. Barbosa later spent time at Monzo before returning to found Haido with Reay.

What the product promises

Haido is an acronym for "How am I doing?". The product answers that question by looking at a user's full money picture across accounts, WealthTechStrategy writes. The target reader is ordinary UK savers, not people with private bankers.

Barbosa's public position is one line, per WealthTechStrategy. The common get-out "this is not financial advice" does not cover a wrong answer. The product's two promises follow from that. First, every number the app shows must be traceable back to a source. Second, the assistant's answers are tested against evaluations written by qualified professionals.

Timing and competition

The waitlist is open now. First users get the product in early 2027, with a full release planned for late 2027.

Revolut itself is pushing into wealth management, and its own fundraising has reached a valuation of 115 billion US dollars. One commentator cited by Neue Alchemy puts the incumbent-bank dilemma this way: "your data plus their AI is a dangerous combination if you don't move".

The bar the founders are naming

A chat assistant in a regulated area is harder to build than a general one. The founders have picked the harder path on purpose.

Any AI product that speaks to a user about money, health or law stands or falls on its evaluation set. An assistant that cannot show its working is a liability the day a regulator or a user notices. The same is true if it drifts from the expert view on a cash ISA rule or a tax band. Haido is naming the bar in plain words before it launches, which is the part worth copying. The harder question is whether the team can hold the bar once it is live.

Source

Early Revolut employees emerge from stealth with AI wealthtech Haido, Sifted, paywalled. European AI D2C advice firm comes out of stealth, WealthTechStrategy. Ex-Revolut Duo Veronique Barbosa and Tom Reay Launch Waitlist for AI Wealthtech Haido, Backed by Eileen Burbidge, fintech.garden. Early Revolut employees emerge from stealth with AI wealthtech Haido, Neue Alchemy.