From sharing a stage with Sir Richard Branson at 21, to being one of the first guests on Steven Bartlett鈥檚 Diary of a CEO podcast; to securing investment from billionaire Nick Candy; Luke Massie is used to making headlines.
This week he made another one when his FinTech business, VibePay, was acquired by global pay by bank platform, Banked.
The 32-year-old entrepreneur will now join the board of Banked as he bids to build VibePay into the 鈥楰larna of pay by banking鈥�.
But who is Luke Massie?
He鈥檚 spoken in the past about his tough childhood being brought up as one of five children in a Preston council estate and selling sweets to his school mates to make extra money.
鈥淲here you鈥檝e come from isn鈥檛 where you鈥檙e going,鈥� he said this week. 鈥淚 did come from a council estate but I don鈥檛 think that matters. I don鈥檛 want to be known for that. I want to be known for building something that people use.鈥�
At an early age Massie excelled at two things: Football and business.
Growing up Massie the footballer was on the radar of Blackburn, Bolton and Blackpool鈥檚 academy systems although, as his business career took off, he dropped into non-league football and represented Bamber Bridge, Lancaster, Coppull and Longridge Town.
While he was 17 and studying for his A Levels at Cardinal Newman College in Preston he set up his first business 鈥� Mortgage Claims Direct 鈥� with 拢3,000 he saved up.
Within 11 months the teenager sold the PPI company聽for 拢94,000 and Massie was on his way.
Several other projects followed, including an online platform聽exclusively聽for聽students and a Preston loft conversion business, before he set up Vibe Tickets for music lovers to buy and sell spare tickets without fees.
Massie was included in a list of the country鈥檚 top 100 young entrepreneurs as Vibe Tickets quickly became the UK鈥檚 go to marketplace for secondary tickets.
The startup was quickly turning over 拢600k but its young founder confidently predicted it would be a 拢6m turnover business sooner rather than later.
Luke Massie with Sir Richard Branson
He won the backing of high profile entrepreneurs, including Sir Richard Branson, who he met after making it to the final three in the #VOOM 2016 Virgin Media competition, spending the day at the Virgin founder鈥檚 house, meeting his team of experts and associates.
It was a life-changing experience and Massie even became the public face of VOOM 2017.
However, a year later, he hit his first significant bump in the road when Vibe Tickets went into administration after plans to raise additional funds did not come to fruition.
The 2018 headline in The Times -鈥楤ranson favourite Luke Massie goes under鈥� 鈥� was especially blunt.
His Lancaster-based ticketing business had raised a total of 拢1.7m from Matt Newing and his company Elite Telecom; ANS Group founder Scott Fletcher MBE; Vela Technologies Plc; and almost 300 investors on Crowdcube.
As a result of the administration process, Newing and Elite Telecom, Vela Technologies Plc and Fletcher lost 拢600,000, 拢400,000 and approximately 拢500,000 respectively.
Speaking at the time Massie said he was 鈥榖acked into a corner鈥濃�� and had no choice but to place the company into administration 鈥� and dismissed claims that it was planned as 鈥榬idiculous鈥�.
Massie insisted he鈥檇 got 鈥榥othing to hide鈥� after he bought Vibe Tickets out of administration, saying he was deeply hurt at suggestions on social media that he鈥檚 鈥榩lanned鈥� the outcome.
Fletcher even took to LinkedIn in support of Massie, writing: 鈥淚 was a large investor in Vibe and continue to back Luke 鈥� I can say with 100 per cent certainty this wasn鈥檛 Luke鈥檚 fault other than being naive when he was just 20 and signing up to ridiculous terms via an investment agreement.鈥�
Massie went on to appear on episode 19 of Steven Bartlett鈥檚 Diary of a CEO podcast to put his side of the story forward.
Luke Massie appeared on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast
Seven years later, I asked Massie how he reflected on that episode in his life. 鈥淚鈥檝e not given it too much thought because it happened so long ago,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat was obviously a low. I was forced into a corner by early investors. It would have resulted in everybody losing. I think I put that behind me and I carried on going.鈥�
After getting up from the canvas, Massie faced an even bigger body blow in 2020 when Covid struck.
鈥淲hen Covid happened people weren鈥檛 even allowed to leave their front doors never mind go to a gig,鈥� he recalled.
As a result the business pivoted away from tickets to creating a payments platform 鈥� and so VibePay was born.
VibePay benefited from the advent of open banking and worked by sending and receiving 聽money instantly, with money flowing straight from one bank account to another 鈥� removing the middleman.
鈥淰ibePay is the UK鈥檚 version of聽 Cash App or Venmo,鈥� explained Massie. 鈥淲e basically allow people to send and receive money directly from their bank accounts instantly and avoid fees.鈥�
VibePay has been backed by billionaire property developer Nick Candy, who recently became the treasurer of Reform聽UK and is married to actress and musician Holly Valance.
Luke Massie with Nick Candy
Last year Candy was part of a fresh 拢5m investment raise into VibePay, bringing the total funding raised to date to 拢12m.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty much the number one payment app in the UK and we鈥檙e trying to grow it as quickly as possible and enter new markets,鈥� said Massie. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to really fire that growth.鈥�
With around 250,000 active users, the Holy Grail for VibePay is to become the brand most associated with pay by bank 鈥� in the same way Klarna is to the buy now, pay later industry.
Pay by bank is聽a way to pay and be paid directly from a bank account and is gaining in popularity, especially among the younger Gen Z and Millennial audience.
That鈥檚 why Banked鈥檚 acquisition of VibePay has the potential to be a game-changer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing the two businesses together to join forces and take on pay by bank, just as Klarna went on to dominate buy now, pay later,鈥� explained Massie.
鈥淣o-one has gone on to own the space with a brand. That鈥檚 where Vibe comes in. With Banked鈥檚 infrastructure I think Vibe could become the brand that owns pay by bank. That鈥檚 what we should be aiming at.
鈥淚鈥檓 staying with the company and joining forces with Brad Goodall, CEO of Banked.
鈥淏rad is going to very much focused on the bank relationships. Vibe is going to be led by me and growing it out.
鈥淲hat this deal really means is with Banked鈥檚 technology and infrastructure we can now connect all the dots. Vibe can scale.
鈥淧ay by bank is something that is really growing quick. We have a good chance of bringing the two businesses together and taking it from a $200m business to a $1bn business. That鈥檚 the aim.
鈥淎lthough VibePay is only five years old we鈥檝e been building this brand and this community for quite some time and sometimes you鈥檝e just got to go for it.
鈥淭he learning I would say if I was to go again I鈥檇 be thinking about global markets first. The UK, although it鈥檚 a good market, is tiny compared to the US, Australia and other places. Next time I鈥檇 have a bit more global ambition first, especially if you鈥檙e 聽in tech.
鈥淚 think鈥檚 Vibe鈥檚 growth could have been a lot bigger if it was a US company.鈥�
Massie identified Matt Moulding, CEO and founder of THG, as one of the entrepreneurs he most admires.
鈥淔or me personally it鈥檚 business as usual,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just want to keep focusing on growing the business. I look up to people like Matt Moulding, who has built THG and has global reach now.
鈥淲hen The Hut Group bought Myprotein (in 2011) and went on to build a powerhouse, that鈥檚 what I see here.聽 Bringing together Banked and Vibe means we now have all the moving parts to create the value from here. We can offer something to the banks, we can offer something to the brand and we can offer something to the end consumer.鈥�
鈥淚f I want to get Vibe to a be a 拢1bn business I鈥檝e got to try and learn from people who鈥檝e been there and done it. I think Matt is one of the UK guys I would look up to.
鈥淭he learning is to keep believing in the vision and keep going for it. You鈥檙e going to have lows along the way but you鈥檝e got to be really resilient.鈥�