I dedicate this post to all those who have supported us over the last decade – family, friends, employees, advisors, investors and clients, and most of these people continue to support us. The most notable are:<\/span><\/p>\n I am extremely proud that we have built a strong and loyal team, with most senior team members having spent more than five years with the company. We have allowed flexible hours and remote working since the very start, which has allowed people to have a good work-life balance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We are also delighted to serve prestigious clients such as BNP Paribas, eToro, Plum, StoneX, and several other FinTechs. Although we initially wanted to be a B2C business, most of our revenue now comes from enterprise clients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our business consists mainly of these products: news and other data aggregation and insights, such as sentiment analysis at <\/span>CityFALCON<\/span><\/a>, an industry-first Dynamic Company Sector Classification (<\/span>DCSC.ai<\/span><\/a>), an AI chatbot for financial audiences (<\/span>FinPrompt.ai<\/span><\/a>), and <\/span>UK Private Company Insights<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Our platform’s core strength lies in leveraging advanced technologies like machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). These technologies enable us to analyse vast amounts of financial news and data, identify relevant information, and deliver personalised insights to our users. We continually improve our algorithms, incorporating feedback from our users and partners.<\/span><\/p>\n In this blog post, I\u2019m sharing our story, the highs and lows, pivots, innovations, and vision for the future. We will delve into the challenges we faced and how we have continually adapted and survived difficult economic conditions. We’ll also explore our exciting new ventures, DCSC.ai and FinPrompt.ai, as we navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. You could also read my post about completing five years of the company – <\/span>15 Lessons I\u2019ve Learnt From 15,000 Hours of FinTech Entrepreneurship<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n To celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we are offering 50% off monthly subscription for all our products with the coupon <\/b>CF10ANNIVERSARY\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The promo code is valid until the end of August 2024.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Sign up for the chosen plan for CityFALCON<\/a> or DCSC<\/a> and apply the coupon before checking out (detailed instructions here<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The company today is not what I had envisioned at the start, and this is the beauty of starting a company. It\u2019s like the analogy – jump off the cliff and then build a parachute on the way down. On the way down from the cliff, our clients, users, and the market shared with us what products we should build.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n CityFALCON was born out of a simple vision: to democratise access to financial information. Back in 2014, the financial news landscape was dominated by large institutions that catered primarily to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. Retail investors and small businesses often find themselves at a disadvantage, needing to pay exorbitant fees to access timely and relevant financial news and data. Moreover, the latest technologies, such as machine learning and APIs, were rarely used in the financial services space.<\/span><\/p>\n What I think financial technologies looked like in 2014<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n I envisioned a platform that could aggregate financial news from thousands of sources, filter and personalise it according to user preferences, and deliver it in real time. This was the seed that eventually grew into CityFALCON.<\/span><\/p>\n I knew that if I wanted to work in technology, I needed to understand it and not depend solely on developers. After quitting my job at Skype (which was bought by Microsoft while I was there), I learned to code at Maker Academy. Apart from learning the fundamentals of building a website, an app, APIs, etc., I also know enough to manage hiring, working with developers, and discussing technology with investors and clients (including technical teams and CTOs). I\u2019ve shared more about my experience with coding in this blog post for 2014 – <\/span>From convenience to impact, from security to adventure<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n 2013, our team product demo (unrelated to CityFALCON) after 12 weeks of learning to code at Makers Academy<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n After graduating from Makers Academy, I spent 30 days almost nonstop coding (including over Christmas) to build the first version of the site. I then demoed this minimum viable product (MVP) to people in my network and was lucky enough to raise a seed round of \u00a3220k in 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2013, the first version of the site that I built<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2014, on a show discussing founders who learn to code<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The initial years were challenging. With limited funding and a small team, we had to be frugal and innovative. As a first-time entrepreneur without a (technical) co-founder, only some wanted to support me. I wrote about this discrimination in an article – <\/span>Why Single Founder Discrimination is More Severe Than Gender or Racial Discrimination in the Start-Up World?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t afford to build an entire team in London and had only 3-4 team members there. In 2014, I went to Ukraine with the knowledge of low costs of living (and therefore salaries), great talent, and the popularity of Ruby on Rails, on which I\u2019d developed the MVP.\u00a0 After the Crimea annexure, most Ukrainians didn\u2019t want to work for Russian companies and preferred to work with companies in the West. We managed to build a team of around 20 in Kharkiv and improved our product significantly. What I found very striking about the Ukrainians I met was that they were extremely diligent, productive, loyal and dedicated to holding onto a stable job. They loved documenting their work to prove that they had been working. They also have a very respectable habit of counting the productive hours and not just hours in the office.<\/span><\/p>\n 2016, our team in Kharkiv, Ukraine<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n By October 2015, we still needed to understand our target audience better, so I launched the <\/span>London Value Investing Club<\/span><\/a>. It brought together individuals passionate about value investing. We have had 89 events (including online) since then, made some close connections, and several ended up investing in our company, using our products, and opening more doors to us. Some presenters even managed to get (better) jobs thanks to their public presentations at the meetups, and we even hired one of the presenters ourselves. We expanded this idea to other cities and now have 8k+ members in 6 countries<\/a>. Our goal remains to create a vibrant community where members can share insights, strategies, and experiences in a collaborative environment. The club serves as a platform for discussing market trends, analysing investment opportunities, and developing a deeper understanding of value investing principles. Join us at our next event if you\u2019re interested.<\/span><\/p>\n 2015, the first London Value Investing Club event<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017, London Value Investing Club event, London<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2023, Malta Value Investing Club<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n We had put our product out for free without any paywalls or advertising to get some feedback from the users. In 2016, one of the users who was working for BNP Paribas Wealth Management reached out requesting API access to our content, as they liked what we had built and were interested in integrating it. We didn\u2019t have one, but we built one in time and integrated it into their product. I\u2019m glad to say that they are still a client after all these years. Without the credibility of having such a strong brand as a client, we probably would have struggled to survive.<\/p>\n While I had confidence in what we were building and the market opportunity, I was barely able to make the payroll for a few months in 2015 and 2016. I was lucky to have the support of real angel investors who invested in us and got us through those difficult times – like the company’s guardian angels. In 2016, I ran out of angel investors to reach out to and decided to try out equity crowdfunding on Seedrs. The main risk was a failed raise, which could scare off any future investors, too: with a target too high, we would not reach the target and then get no funding. It was a tough month of talking to friends and potential investors to achieve the crowdfunding target. Thankfully, we achieved the target and got fully funded. Read more about how to \u2018smash\u2019 your fundraising target on equity crowdfunding in the article <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n We had only c. \u00a3800k of funding for the first three years, which is nothing if you want to build a product for enterprises that can compete with multi-billion dollar companies in financial services. By 2017, we had a bit of revenue traction with reputed clients, a better pitch, and a better relationship with the existing small investors on Seedrs. This led to our first major funding breakthrough, and we raised \u00a3550k on Seedrs. We didn\u2019t have many investors lined up at the start of the round, so we put a modest target of \u00a3150k. To our surprise, as the campaign gathered momentum, money started flowing in, and we had to close the round not to dilute too much. These funds allowed us to expand our team, enhance our platform, and include more machine learning\/AI-based tools.<\/span><\/p>\n I2017, Seedrs fundraising campaign. <\/em>Read more here<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n I didn\u2019t know many people in the startup and tech space, so I was constantly looking for opportunities to gain visibility, money, or any other support to achieve my dream.<\/p>\n We embarked on our journey at Level39 in the iconic One Canada Square in Canary Wharf, London. Level39 has provided a comprehensive ecosystem that includes flexible office spaces and access to a network of industry experts, investors, and other tech pioneers\u200b\u200b. Through events, workshops, and forums hosted at Level39, we gained insights and built connections that were crucial for our advancement.<\/p>\n 2014, Level 39, London, great view from our office<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n We got into accelerator programs\u2014Microsoft Ventures, Octopus Labs Accelerator, Kickstart (by Digital Switzerland), Raiffeisen Bank Accelerator, and Holt Accelerator. We had also gotten into the KStartup Grand Challenge in Korea but could not attend both Holt and KGC. We took advantage of cloud credits from Microsoft, Google, and AWS. We are thankful to these companies for supporting us with resources and opening doors to potential investors and clients.<\/p>\n We participated in several competitions, including the notable Polar Bear Pitching, where you have to pitch from an ice hole. We won awards from Twitter, the Canadian province of Ontario, at a startup competition in Bern and many more. And, of course, we have been to several startup, fintech and other events and festivals.<\/span><\/p>\n Below are some photos from events over the last 10 years:<\/span><\/p>\n 2014, My first very pitch on stage, even before I had incorporated the company<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2015, Award at Twitter\u2019s startup competition in San Francisco<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2015, pitching to mentors and investors at Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in London<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2015, pitching to investors at an event organised at the Bloomberg London office<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2015, Microsoft Ventures Demo Day started with a dance.<\/em> Read more and watch it here<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2016, Master Investor Show, London<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2016 – Techcrunch Disrupt, NYC<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2016, shooting an educational video for marketing<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017- Pitching to angel investors in Boston<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017, Octopus Labs demo day, London<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Image: 2017, demoing our voice app on Amazon Alexa<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017 – Polar Bear Pitching, North Finland in freezing cold \ud83d\ude42<\/em> Watch the full video here<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017, shooting for our crowdfunding video.<\/em> Watch the full video here<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017, pitching to get into the Kickstart Accelerator (supported by Digital Switzerland)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017 – startup competition, Bern thanks to Kickstart (Digital Switzerland)<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2017, VivaTech conference with BNP Paribas<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2018, Tedx, Portugal.<\/em> Watch the full video here<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2018, Raiffeisen Bank Signs up CityFALCON to Pilot Personalised Financial Content in CEE Markets<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2019, Raiffeisen Bank Accelerator Demo Day <\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n 2019, pitching to angel investors in Malta<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n\n
The Early Days<\/b><\/h2>\n
The Beginnings<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-What-I-think-Financial-Technologies-looked-like-in-2014.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2013-our-team-product-demo-unrelated-to-CityFALCON-after-12-weeks-of-learning-to-code-at-Makers-Academy.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2013-the-first-version-of-the-site-that-I-built.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2014-on-a-show-discussing-founders-who-learn-to-code.png\")
<\/a><\/h3>\n
Early Struggles and Breakthroughs<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2016-our-team-in-Kharkiv-Ukraine.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-First-London-Value-Investing-Club-event-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-London-Value-Investing-Club-event-London-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/unnamed.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-Seedrs-fundraising-campaign-Read-more-here.png\")
<\/a><\/h2>\n
Accelerators, Competitions and Pitches<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2014-Level-39-London-great-view-from-our-office-min-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2014-My-first-very-pitch-on-stage-even-before-I-had-incorporated-the-company.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2015-Award-at-Twitters-startup-competition-in-San-Francisco.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2015-pitching-to-mentors-and-investors-at-Microsoft-Ventures-Accelerator-in-London.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2015-pitching-to-investors-at-an-event-organised-at-Bloomberg-London-office-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2015-Microsoft-Ventures-Demo-Day-started-with-a-dance-Read-more-and-watch-here.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2016-Master-Investor-Show-London.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2016-Techcrunch-Disrupt-NYC-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2016-shooting-an-educational-video-for-marketing.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image-](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-Pitching-to-angel-investors-in-Boston.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-Octopus-Labs-demo-day-London.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-demoing-our-voice-app-on-Amazon-Alexa-.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-Polar-Bear-Pitching-North-Finland-in-freezing-cold-See-the-full-video-here-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-shooting-for-our-crowdfunding-video.-Watch-the-whole-video-here.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-pitching-to-get-into-the-Kickstart-Accelerator-supported-by-Digital-Switzerland-.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-startup-competition-Bern-thanks-to-Kickstart-Digital-Switzerland-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2017-VivaTech-with-BNP-Paribas-.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2018-Portugal.-Watch-the-full-video-here-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2018-Raiffeisen-Bank-Signs-up-CityFALCON-to-Pilot-Personalised-Financial-Content-in-CEE-Markets-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2019-Raiffeisen-Bank-Accelerator-Demo-Day-.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2019-pitching-to-angel-investors-in-Malta-.png\")
<\/a>
![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2019-grants-from-Malta-Enterprise.-Read-more-here-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2021-Holt-Xchange-Demo-Day-Montreal-Canada-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2022-Mello-London-conference-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2023-Launching-our-new-product-dcsc.ai-in-Hong-Kong-.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-2024-Master-Investor-Show-London-1.png\")
<\/a>![\"Image:](\"https:\/\/www.cityfalcon.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Image-our-clients-.png\")
<\/a>