When Nicola Jones (now van Gelder) introduced her husband Joe van Gelder to her university friend鈥檚 partner, Stephen Foster, the trio had no inkling it would change their lives.
Jones and her friend, who had started dating Foster, had met through cheerleading at the University of Nottingham.
However, the chat provided the spark that would lead to the launch of Powdr, one of Manchester鈥檚 fastest-emerging FinTechs.
Joe van Gelder, who has been has been at the Web Summit as part of聽 GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub鈥檚 ASCEND programme, recalled:聽 鈥淣icola and Anna, who鈥檚 Steve鈥檚 wife, used to run a cheerleading academy together.
鈥淲e met through that and just got chatting. I sat down with a 60-page information memorandum and we hit it off. We were just giggling the whole way through.聽That鈥檚 how it started.鈥�
In 2023, Powdr officially launched with van Gelder as CEO, his wife Jones as COO and Foster as CTO.聽
The team鈥檚 mission was to make professional-grade financial models accessible to every business through intuitive software.
拢1m pre-seed
The company bootstrapped for its first 15 months before closing a 拢1m pre-seed round in early 2025, led by Haatch and supported by angels, including former colleagues and customers.
True to Powdr鈥檚 unconventional DNA, the round was raised without a traditional pitch deck and the whole process was completed within three months.
鈥淲e were a big company trapped in the body of a small company,鈥� van Gelder tells 老九品茶Cloud at Web Summit.聽
鈥淲e were break-even, but we needed to professionalise our marketing and accelerate development.鈥�
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That changes began in earnest this month with the launch of a new website and sharpened messaging.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e two years old – four if you count the development time,鈥� van Gelder says.聽
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really know how to sell our product, and the website needed redoing. I built it, and then it was like: we have to professionalise this.鈥�
Until now, most of Powdr鈥檚 business came from referrals through banks and private equity advisers familiar with the value of strong financial models.聽
But for the average SME, the benefits weren鈥檛 always clear.聽
鈥淚鈥檝e had to completely pivot how I talk about what we do,鈥� he admits.聽
鈥淭he end client doesn鈥檛 always understand why they should have a financial model beyond unlocking a funding process.鈥�
Partnering with banks
Today, Powdr has built close relationships with major lenders including NatWest, where its headquarters in Manchester are.聽
鈥淲e support the commercial and corporate teams,鈥� van Gelder says.聽
鈥淲e also get referrals from within the bank – little silos with their own portfolios.
鈥淲e create a mathematical model that demonstrates a company鈥檚 strategy, then layer in the new debt over the top.
鈥淭hat makes the process clearer for businesses and makes it easier for banks to assess risk. The banks also use our system internally to speed up their own analysis.鈥�
The ambition is to make Powdr the modelling standard across the UK banking landscape.聽
鈥淭he rollout will be capital hungry,鈥� van Gelder admits.聽
鈥淭here are worlds in which that鈥檚 debt funding rather than equity, but we鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
Inclusive culture
Powdr鈥檚 team of 14 people has grown steadily, with a deliberate focus on structure and culture.聽
鈥淲e have clear roles as a management team,鈥� van Gelder says.
鈥淣icola runs operations across the front and back office, Steve leads tech and I focus on the commercial side, but we muck in together.鈥�
鈥淩etention is high because the company鈥檚 growth path is visible to everyone.聽
鈥淧eople can see where we鈥檙e going.
鈥淲e鈥檝e created a culture where anyone can recommend how we do things and we support them in putting that into place.鈥�
Before launching the company, van Gelder worked across banking, accountancy and consultancy, launching his first consultancy at the age of 28.聽
He explains: 鈥淚 used to work in banking and receive financial models that were difficult to interpret.聽
鈥淭hen I retrained as an accountant, worked in an American consultancy and got parachuted into large PE-backed businesses to either save them or prepare them for a transaction.
鈥淭he problem with models is that they break easily once handed over to a finance team.聽
鈥淭hat was the beginning of Powdr – to make my consultancy a product and fix a broken segment within funding and FinTech.鈥�
Growing with ASCEND聽
Powdr joined GM 老九品茶 Growth Hub鈥檚 ASCEND programme earlier this year, a move van Gelder calls ‘invaluable’.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard running a business,鈥� he admits.聽
鈥淏eing around founders going through the same journey is invaluable. The mentoring has been fantastic.鈥�
He credits mentor Susanna Lawson for helping him and Foster realise that they can step back from day-to-day operations to focus on bigger-picture strategy.聽
鈥淪he makes time no matter what,鈥� he says.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 back to that early energy of problem-solving and having fun – that鈥檚 what helps you evolve.鈥�
Currently at Web Summit in Lisbon, van Gelder says the week has been a pivotal experience.聽
鈥淎t first I was overwhelmed,鈥� he admits. 鈥淭hen I had a meeting with Susanna and the next day was unbelievably productive.聽
鈥淚t just shows if you reflect and adjust, you can achieve so much more.鈥�
Future growth
With early backing, a growing bank client base and a sharper brand, the business is evolving from bootstrap success story to scale-up contender.聽
鈥淥ur near-term goal is to hit break-even again,鈥� says van Gelder.聽
鈥淭hen shoot past it into organic growth mode.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e on that pathway back to profitability – and then beyond.鈥�
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