Mark Whitcroft
Founder of PlannerPal
Bath, England
Overview
Work Experience
CEO / Co-Founder
2024 - Current
Do These Challenges Sound Familiar? - Spending hours replaying client meeting recordings just to capture key takeaways, when that time could be better spent elsewhere. - Falling behind on meeting notes, follow-up emails, and suitability letters, creating unnecessary stress and a growing backlog. - Struggling to keep your CRM up to date, leaving critical client insights scattered or incomplete. - Unable to fully engage with clients in meetings because you're busy scribbling notes to type up later. - Watching admin tasks eat into your day, leaving little time for what truly matters—building relationships and delivering advice. - Managing back-to-back meetings with no time to update your team on key details, leaving workflows fragmented and opportunities missed. These are common challenges for financial advisers and planners, and they often pull focus away from what you do best—helping your clients achieve their goals. If these frustrations sound familiar, you’re not alone. They’re the reason I co-founded PlannerPal: to tackle these inefficiencies and help financial advisers reclaim their time. Let’s talk about how these challenges might be impacting your practice. Free Trial - Visit www.plannerpal.co.uk to learn more.
CEO / Co-Founder
2022
At Hazel, I spearhead the development of an innovative platform that empowers older adults to navigate the challenges of later-life housing and financial planning. Our solution was co-developed in collaboration with the UK’s National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) and has been adopted by one of the largest retirement-focused financial groups in the UK. Here’s why our mission matters: - 30% of adults aged 65+ in the UK have housing wealth but lack sufficient pension wealth. - Over 80% of adults aged 50+ are homeowners, holding significant housing equity. This disparity highlights the critical need to align housing and pension strategies, ensuring financial security and independence for older populations. At Hazel, we’re bridging this gap by providing accessible, tailored guidance that helps older adults make informed decisions about their property and finances.
Angel Investor
2010
Angel investor in 20+ startups, mostily in the future of finance, AI and infrastructure. Angel investments: Doublewood, Solve Finance, Receipts Depositary Corporation, Propelle, Life Moments, Kinherit, Craft.co, Jitty, Carmoola, Adsum, Scan.com, Heroes, GoCardless, Genesis Global, RunYourSelf Exits include: Fatmap (acq by Strava), Nutmeg (acq by JPMorgan), Seedrs (acq by Republic), SoSure (acq by Open)
Board Director
2016 - 2023
As a Board Director and the first institutional investor in Cosaic, I played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s growth trajectory: Key Contributions: - Led Seed funding round, securing follow-on investments from Digital+ Partners, Citigroup, and AFG Partners. - Identified and successfully recruited President and COO to a pivotal leadership role, strengthening the company's strategic vision and operational execution. - Worked with the company through global expansion, helping to establish a strong international presence and scale operations effectively. - Supported strategic initiatives that resulted in Cosaic’s sale of ChartIQ to S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) and the successful spin-off of Finsemble. Throughout my tenure, I worked closely with the leadership team to navigate key growth phases, enabling Cosaic to become a recognized leader in its field.
Board Director
2017 - 2022
As a Board Director, I played a key role in AxeTrading’s growth and evolution: Key Contributions: - Led the seed funding round, securing follow-on investments from IFC (part of the World Bank Group), alongside Sumscope and SixThirty, to drive innovation and global expansion. - Helped transition the company from founder-led to management-led operations, ensuring its core vision and values remained intact while scaling. - Strengthened governance by bringing in an experienced chairman to guide strategic direction. - Supported the company’s journey, which culminated in its acquisition by Trading Technologies. During my tenure, I worked closely with the leadership team to refine operations, secure growth capital, and position AxeTrading as a leader in fixed income trading technology.
Founding Partner
2014 - 2022
As a Founding Partner, I helped build Illuminate Financial from an idea into a global fintech venture capital firm, backed by leading financial institutions like Barclays, JPMorgan, IHS Markit, Deutsche Börse Group, and others. Illuminate was established to address inefficiencies in financial services by investing in innovative startups that are reshaping the industry. Key Contributions & Achievements: - Founded and scaled the firm with Mark Beeston, developing its vision, strategy, and operations into a globally recognized investment platform. - Investment Committees for Fund I ($50M) and Fund II ($100M), directing investments across 30+ fintech and enterprise software companies worldwide. - Served as a Board Director for eight portfolio companies and Illuminate Financial, providing strategic guidance to accelerate growth and navigate challenges. - Played a key role in driving Fund I to be recognized as the top-performing European fund for 2015 vintage by Cambridge Associates based on actual distributions. - Built and empowered a world-class team that continues to deliver exceptional results, with Illuminate Financial going from strength to strength, including the successful launch of Fund III. 30 Investments made in my time at Illuminate: Accelex, Arteria.ai, AxeTrading (Acquired), Baton, BeZero, BlockDaemon, CloudMargin, Copper.co, Curv (acquired), D1G1T, DV01 (Acquired), EMMI, enmacc, Genesis Global, interop.io, NetPurpose, Notabene, Pontoro, Privitar (Acquired), RegTek (Acquired), Revelate, Relata, SteelEye, Talos, Time is Ltd, Tookitaki (Acquired), TransFICC, Vault, WeMatch, YvesBlue Illuminate Financial remains a cornerstone of innovation in financial services, fostering collaboration, addressing inefficiencies, and unlocking opportunities for transformation in the sector. Left to establish a new company focused on closing the financial advice gap and to put my own principles into practice.
Board Director
2021 - 2021
During my tenure as a Board Director, I supported Arteria AI’s transition from a Deloitte spin-out to an independent global leader in enterprise digital contracting: Key Contributions: - Led the initial funding for Arteria AI just five months after its spin-out from Deloitte, enabling the company to scale operations and solidify its market presence. - Recruited the first European hire and Regional Vice President, EMEA, laying the foundation for the company’s successful expansion into the UK and European markets. - Contributed to strategic initiatives that positioned Arteria AI for sustained growth. I left the Board upon my departure from Illuminate Financial. Since then, Arteria AI has continued its success, raising $30 million in a Series B funding round led by GGV Capital in late 2023 and establishing itself as a global leader in enterprise digital contracting.
Board Director
2020 - 2021
Net Purpose provides an independent, investment-grade fact base on the social and environmental performance of companies and portfolios, empowering sustainable and impact investors to manage billions in sustainable funds. Key Contributions: - Led the seed funding round, securing critical investment to accelerate Net Purpose’s growth and market positioning. - Recruited the company’s first COO, enhancing operational capacity and leadership as the firm scaled. - Supported strategic planning and operations that laid the foundation for future growth. I left the board upon my departure from Illuminate Financial. Since then, Net Purpose has continued its impressive trajectory, raising £10 million in late 2022 in a round led by ETF Partners, a sustainability and impact-focused investor.
IAEngine Advisory Panel Member
2018 - 2021
IA Engine is the fintech accelerator of The Investment Association, supporting innovation across the UK’s investment management industry, which manages over £8.8 trillion in assets. Key Contributions: - Served on the advisory panel of industry experts from IA Engine’s inception, providing strategic guidance to shape its vision and support its growth. - Mentored fintech innovators, helping them refine solutions that address critical challenges and transform the value chain for investment firms. - Supported initiatives that connected investment management firms with cutting-edge fintech solutions, spanning the full spectrum of technologies. IA Engine bridges the gap between fintech innovation and investment management, driving transformation across the industry’s ecosystem.
Board Director
2017 - 2021
Served on the board from seed through to Series A, supporting TransFICC in its mission to build high-performance, low-latency connectivity for fixed income trading. - Led the seed investment through Illuminate Financial, backing a bold and technical founding team tackling real industry complexity - Helped guide the business through early scaling and product-market fit, culminating in a successful Series A led by AlbionVC with strategic backing from HSBC, Citi, ING and Commerzbank - Left the board upon my departure from Illuminate Financial Incredible to see what the team has gone on to achieve since, including a $25 million Series B led by Citadel Securities. Proud to have played a role in the early chapters of such a standout fintech.