UK-headquartered Youtility, an Open Banking-enabled home finance technology solution provider, has secured £4.5 million (appr. $5.8 million) in capital via an investment round that included contributions from Barclays and City entrepreneur, Michael Spencer. Youtility’s management said that the funds will be used to expand the company’s product offerings, add more members to its team and enhance its data and behavioral insight capabilities.
Ascension Ventures Fair By Design Fund also took part in Youtility’s investment round. The company only invests in initiatives that aim to tackle the Poverty Premium, a project that lowers costs for low-income families in the United Kingdom.
Will Kostoris and Charlie Quigley, co-founders at Youtility, issued a joint statement:
“Since our launch we’ve made big strides towards helping consumers move onto competitive tariffs but there are still millions of people at risk of spending too much on their home finances. This funding will allow us to significantly expand our services and ultimately help more people take back control of their home finances as we work to improve consumer engagement by transparently showing them the alternatives that meet their needs.”
Established in 2018, Youtility aims to leverage Open Banking tech, behavioral science and data analytics to assist customers in switching suppliers. It serves UK households that are not presently changing suppliers. Youtility’s API and software development kit (SDK) helps its business partners in giving their clients complete control over their personal finances. The firm’s platform can work alongside their technology infrastructure and offers a comparison and switching service that uses machine learning (ML) and behavioral analytics.
Ben Davey, CEO at Barclays Ventures, remarked:
“We are excited about the application of Youtility’s technology in the financial services sector and will be supporting the team as they develop products which have the potential to deliver significant value to customers.”