Who founded Revolut?
Revolut was founded by Russian-born British entrepreneur Nikolay Storonsky and Ukrainian-British software architect Vlad Yatsenko in 2015.
What inspired Nikolay Storonsky to create Revolut?
As a frequent international traveler and derivatives trader, Storonsky was frustrated by paying hundreds of pounds in foreign transaction fees and hidden exchange rate markups every time he spent money abroad, inspiring him to create a multi-currency card that used interbank exchange rates.
How did Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko meet?
Storonsky had the financial concept and initial seed capital but needed a world-class software engineer to build the platform. He met Vlad Yatsenko through financial technology networking channels at the Level39 incubator in Canary Wharf, London.
What was Vlad Yatsenko's engineering contribution to Revolut?
Yatsenko designed and coded Revolut's core real-time ledger and banking software from scratch, architecting a cloud-based microservices engine capable of executing instantaneous foreign currency conversions and handling millions of transactions per second.
Where was Vlad Yatsenko educated and what was his early career?
Vlad Yatsenko was born in East Germany to a Ukrainian military family, grew up in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, and graduated from the Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University with a degree in computer science, later moving to London to engineer trading systems for UBS and Deutsche Bank.
What initial funding did the founders secure to launch Revolut?
Storonsky initially self-funded the venture with approximately £300,000 of his personal trading savings, subsequently raising a £1.5 million seed round in 2015 led by Balderton Capital and a £1 million crowdfunding round on Crowdcube.
What philanthropic initiatives have the founders supported?
Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine in 2022, Vlad Yatsenko and Nikolay Storonsky matched employee and user donations, raising millions of pounds for Red Cross Ukraine relief, while Yatsenko established private charitable funds aiding Ukrainian civil defense and medical relief.
What is Vlad Yatsenko's current role and net worth?
Yatsenko serves as co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, and board director, with a net worth estimated between $2 billion and $3 billion based on Revolut's $45 billion valuation.
How did the founders' technical backgrounds shape Revolut's corporate DNA?
Coming from algorithmic trading and mission-critical bank systems, the founders instilled an obsession with automation, real-time data metrics, algorithmic decision-making, and minimal reliance on manual customer operations.
Did the founders face early rejection from venture capital investors?
Yes, dozens of traditional London venture capitalists initially rejected Revolut, claiming that foreign exchange was an unviable low-margin niche and doubting that two first-time entrepreneurs could build a viable alternative to established clearing banks.
What awards and public recognitions have the founders received?
Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko have been featured on the Forbes Billionaires list, won City AM Fintech Entrepreneur of the Year awards, and are widely celebrated as the architects of Europe's most valuable fintech business.
Are both founders still actively involved in day-to-day operations?
Yes, both Storonsky and Yatsenko remain fully active in executive leadership at Revolut, steering global product roadmap execution, technological infrastructure scaling, and regulatory strategy.