Ricky Knox is a serial climate fintech entrepreneur and investor. Ricky is Chairman of Carbontricity, a Renewable Energy Certificate and Carbon Offset platform. Ricky also chairs ForMore, a wealthtech business and was the Founder of Tandem Bank (and CEO from inception to July 2021), an app-based bank that aims to revolutionize banking to save people and planet. App-operated bank Tandem was conceived after Ricky and his co-founder Matt Cooper saw the opportunity for a purpose driven bank. Tandem is currently focused on helping the UK reach Net Zero 2050 by leveraging customers savings to help customers to finance environmental improvements to their home, transport and lives.
Ricky has helped to create a series of technology disruptors in Fintech and telecoms before founding Tandem Bank. He co-founded GSM Systems (a global mobile telephony network services provider) in 2003 to recycle mobile networks into the developing world and is a Founder of Small World Financial Services Group, a global money transfer business with over £5bn of transfers and one of the world’s largest international money transfer operators. In 2012, he co-founded Azimo, a social digital payments platform that enables simple, fast and secure remittances to 198 countries around the world and remained as Non-Executive Director until 2018. Azimo was sold to Papaya Global in 2022.
Ricky has been investing in Fintech businesses since 2003, and has backed other notable Fintech businesses such as Curve, Comply Advantage, Vitesse, Liberis and Modulr. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a first class honors in Economics from Bristol University.
1. What values are most important to you as a leader?
Bravery, integrity and persistence.
2. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
I’m inspired by those who give themselves in service to others, or our (human) race or planet. When that can be done in a scalable manner, it is super inspiring. I have many examples, but one that comes to mind is Lawrence Leuschner, CEO of TIER Mobility (those scooters around London).
3. Best piece of advice you have been given?
Interview everyone yourself – from my Chair Matt Cooper on controlling and building culture.
4. What would you tell your younger self?
Enjoy yourself as much as possible, while focusing on learning in your early career. Life’s about love and friends.
5. What has been your most important or profound lesson as a leader?
Try to understand and satisfy the needs of as many of your team as possible, to get 80% rather than 50% effort out of them.
