Consumer payments app VibePay and AI-powered home finance specialist SmartLayer are the latest fintechs to shut up shop.
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VibePay has entered liquidation months after founder Luke Massie left the firm, according to Companies House filings.
According to Tech.EU, the decision to wind up operations came after investors, including the investment arm of billionaire Reform UK treasurer Nick Candy, pulled the plug. Around 10 employees have been made redundant.
Founded in 2019, account-to-account payments specialist VibePay announced last year that it had been acquired by another UK fintech, Banked. However, the deal fell through, leading to the departure in December of CEO Luke Massie.
Separately, SmartLayer, a self-described “agentic OS for the home economy”, has shut down after three years.
Designed in partnership with Lloyds, the startup’s flagship product, HomeScore, aggregated smart meter data, IoT signals, EPC ratings, and open property data to improve mortgage and loan processes.
However, in a LinkedIn post, founder Tahir Farooqui says: “After three years—including 15 months of deep co-design with the Lloyds Banking Group Group Data and AI Team—and a lifetime of lessons, Smartlayer.ai is coming to an end.
“I gave this mission everything I had. My own capital, three years without a salary, and a level of intensity that—candidly—took its toll. I made mistakes.”
It has been tough start to the year for some in the UK fintech sector: last month ethical savings app Zero ceased trading after failing to secure additional funding.
