Cleo AI

Cleo AI

Cleo AI is a consumer personal-finance assistant: a chat-based app that connects to your bank accounts and answers money questions in plain language. Founded in London in 2016 by Barney Hussey-Yeo, Cleo AI tracks spending, builds budgets, and offers cash advances of up to $250, a credit-builder card, and automated savings. The app is aimed at younger users in the US and is known for an optional sassy 'roast mode' that critiques your spending. Rather than dashboards of charts, Cleo answers questions like 'can I afford this?' conversationally, pulling from real transaction data to nudge better day-to-day financial habits.

Production credibility: Founded 2016 in London by first-time founder Barney Hussey-Yeo (ex-data scientist; came through the Entrepreneur First programme). Cleo has raised approximately $137M+ in total venture funding across rounds, including a Series C that reportedly valued the company around $500M (2022), with investors including Balderton Capital, EQT Ventures, LocalGlobe, Sofina, and SBI. The company reported crossing $300M in annual recurring revenue and roughly 1.1M paying subscribers in 2025 (figures per company statements and reports such as Sacra and Sifted), and has said it reached net-income-positive operation. The credit-builder card is issued by WebBank. Headquartered in London with a US-focused user base; some metrics are self-reported and should be treated as approximate.

Key Features

• Conversational chat interface that answers money questions using linked bank-transaction data
• Cash advances of up to $250 with no mandatory interest or credit check (subscription-gated)
• Cleo Credit Builder secured card, issued by WebBank, to help establish credit history
• Automated 'Hustle' savings challenges and goal-based set-asides
• Budgeting and spend-categorization with overspend and upcoming-bill alerts
• Optional 'roast' and 'hype' personalities that adjust the assistant's tone
• Subscription tiers (Cleo Plus / Builder) that unlock advances and credit features
• iOS and Android apps with bank linking via aggregator connections

Ideal Use Case

A paycheck-to-paycheck Gen Z or millennial user links their checking account to ask Cleo whether they can cover an expense, take a small cash advance before payday, and build credit with the secured card while nudging savings.

How Cleo AI differentiates

Cleo competes with Dave, Albert, and Chime in the US neobank and cash-advance space. Its main point of difference is the chat-first, personality-driven interface: where Dave centers on ExtraCash advances and Chime on spending-account banking, Cleo frames everything as a conversation and leans on a deliberately blunt tone to drive engagement. Unlike Chime, Cleo is not itself a bank and partners with WebBank for its card, so deposit features are narrower. Albert pairs software with human financial advisors, while Cleo keeps interaction AI-led. The honest trade-off: subscription fees and advance 'tips' can be costly relative to the small advance sizes, so heavy users should compare total cost against Dave and Albert.

FAQ

Q: What is Cleo AI and how does it work? A: Cleo AI is a personal-finance chatbot app that links to your bank accounts and answers money questions conversationally. It categorizes spending, builds budgets, and can offer cash advances, a credit-builder card, and automated savings, all through chat on iOS or Android.

Q: Who founded Cleo AI and when? A: Cleo was founded in London in 2016 by Barney Hussey-Yeo, a first-time founder and former data scientist who developed the idea through the Entrepreneur First programme.

Q: How much funding has Cleo AI raised? A: Cleo has raised approximately $137M+ in total venture funding from investors including Balderton Capital, EQT Ventures, LocalGlobe, Sofina, and SBI, and was reportedly valued around $500M at its 2022 Series C.

Q: Cleo vs Dave: which cash-advance app is better? A: Dave centers on its ExtraCash advances and a spending account, while Cleo wraps advances, budgeting, and a credit-builder card in a conversational, personality-led chat. Cleo suits users who want guidance and engagement; Dave can be simpler if you mainly want advances. Compare subscription fees and advance costs for your usage.

Q: Is Cleo a bank, and is my money safe? A: Cleo is not a bank; it partners with regulated providers such as WebBank for its credit-builder card and uses bank-data aggregators to connect accounts. Always review current terms, fees, and FDIC-coverage details in the app before relying on any feature.

tl;dr

Cleo AI is a chat-based personal-finance app aimed at younger US users, combining budgeting, cash advances, automated savings, and a credit-builder card. Founded in 2016 by Barney Hussey-Yeo, it has raised roughly $137M+ and reports crossing $300M ARR with over 1M paying subscribers.

Related

Looking for more options? Browse the Finance & Trading directory or read our best AI finance tools listicle. Cleo AI is also tracked on Crunchbase.