Monet, a financial cash flow startup focused on the creative industry, has secured a substantial early-stage funding commitment of £17 million, led by notable UK banking executives, as it prepares to close its seed round this July.
Key investors include Paul Rippon, co-founder of challenger banks Monzo and Starling; Michael Fischer from Modern Capital Group; and Dan Adler from Railsr and D Squared Capital, along with the specialist fintech VC Force Over Mass and prominent angel investors.
Monet targets a critical £1.1 billion backlog of unpaid invoices and delayed supplier payments impacting creative agencies across Britain. This funding round, which combines equity and debt, is complemented by discussions to secure an additional £10 million in debt financing to accelerate growth.
After a two-year research and development phase and a successful market pilot, Monet is already aiding agile creative agencies managing significant campaigns in television, social media, music, and gaming, including Cowshed Collective, known for Footasylum’s successful YouTube show, Locked In.
The startup highlights that UK creative businesses encounter funding obstacles four times more often than those in other sectors, with just 7% accessing bank lending compared to 25% for general SMEs. Monet’s platform aims to bridge this gap by offering a unified system for finance, payments, and workflow management.
Jacob Casson, founder and CEO of Monet, states: “These teams are high-performing but often underfunded. We’ve developed MONET to deliver financial products that integrate seamlessly into campaign operations, ensuring capital, payments, and administrative tasks are streamlined from the outset. Our typical clients generate between £2 million and £20 million in revenue, representing lean, fast-growing agencies that support global brands and require financial infrastructure that keeps pace with their growth.”
Paul Rippon mentions that his investment in Monet is his largest angel investment to date, emphasizing, “Monet is establishing the kind of infrastructure the creative sector has long needed—one that directly addresses the cash flow and operational challenges faced by media entrepreneurs.”