Founding CFO / Capital Markets Co-FounderChipIn — Retail Finance and Device Upgrade Infrastructure
Equity | Pre-seed | UK
ChipIn is building the upgrade infrastructure that enables electronics retailers to retain customers across successive device purchases.
Instead of treating checkout as the end of a transaction, ChipIn connects the first sale to the customer’s next upgrade—combining retailer checkout integration, device financing, subscriptions and return economics within one repeatable system.
I am looking for a Founding CFO and Capital Markets Co-Founder to take ownership of ChipIn’s financing strategy and help turn the model into a fundable, executable business.
The opportunity
Independent and mid-sized electronics retailers sell a device once and then frequently lose the customer when they upgrade.
ChipIn gives retailers an upgrade programme comparable to those operated by mobile networks and major technology brands, without requiring the retailer to build its own financing or lifecycle infrastructure.
The business is designed to be retailer-first and initially capital-light:
- Retailers remain the point of sale.
- Finance partners fund new devices and conduct underwriting.
- ChipIn coordinates the checkout and upgrade relationship.
- Returned devices can later generate additional value through refurbishment and re-leasing.
- Retailers benefit from repeat checkouts without carrying credit or residual-value risk.
This is not simply a software subscription business. Its success depends on combining technology, consumer finance, asset economics and institutional capital.
Current position
ChipIn is currently pre-seed and pre-revenue.
Work completed includes:
- A developed business and operating model.
- Detailed financial and device-level economic modelling.
- A working checkout architecture and server-side state machine.
- Defined retailer and finance-partner propositions.
- An identified pipeline of prospective retailers and finance providers.
- Investor and commercial materials in development.
There are not yet signed retailer or finance-partner agreements. Securing those relationships is a central part of the next stage.
The initial angel/pre-seed raise is expected to be approximately £250,000–£350,000, subject to the capital plan agreed with the successful candidate.
The role
You will own the financial and capital-markets side of ChipIn.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Designing the funding structure for the first device cohorts.
- Determining the appropriate division between equity, debt, asset finance and partner-funded capital.
- Leading conversations with specialty lenders, consumer-finance providers and institutional funding partners.
- Developing the financial model into a lender- and investor-ready operating model.
- Preparing capital forecasts, liquidity scenarios, cohort economics and downside cases.
- Defining the structure for device ownership, residual-value exposure and future funding vehicles.
- Leading the equity fundraising process alongside the founder.
- Supporting investor meetings, due diligence and negotiations.
- Helping secure a credible finance-partner commitment or heads of terms.
- Building the finance, risk and governance function as the company develops.
This is not primarily a bookkeeping, reporting or company-accounts role.
The immediate requirement is capital formation, financial architecture and transaction execution.
The person
The strongest candidates are likely to have senior experience in one or more of the following:
- Specialty finance.
- Asset-backed lending.
- Consumer finance or consumer hire.
- Retail finance or embedded finance.
- Warehouse facilities or structured credit.
- Equipment, vehicle or device leasing.
- Investment banking or private credit.
- Fintech capital raising.
You should be comfortable discussing matters such as:
- Advance rates and borrowing bases.
- Credit and residual-value risk.
- Facility covenants and eligibility criteria.
- SPV and funding structures.
- Cohort cash flows and capital velocity.
- Equity dilution and fundraising sequencing.
- Lender and investor due diligence.
You do not need to know every answer on day one. You must, however, know how to reach the answer and be credible with the institutions involved.
Essential experience
Applicants should be able to demonstrate meaningful personal involvement in at least one relevant area, such as:
- Raising an equity round.
- Negotiating or closing a lending facility.
- Structuring an asset-backed funding arrangement.
- Launching a consumer or retail-finance product.
- Building a finance function within an early-stage company.
- Taking a financial product from concept to institutional approval.
Job titles alone are not sufficient.
I am particularly interested in people who have operated outside a large institution—through founding, consulting, investing, portfolio work or joining an early-stage business.
First-stage objectives
During the initial working period, the priorities will be to:
- Validate or revise the proposed funding model.
- Produce a credible capital plan for the first 100, 1,000 and 10,000 devices.
- Identify the most viable finance-partner structure.
- Open and progress a focused set of lender and investor conversations.
- Refine the financial model and fundraising narrative.
- Establish whether we work effectively enough to form the long-term founding team.
The role must produce concrete external progress, not only documents, frameworks or advice.
Founder fit
I am a technical and analytical founder with approximately 17 years of experience building financial-services and retail systems.
My strengths are product design, software architecture, quantitative modelling and translating complex business processes into working systems.
The gap is a commercially confident finance leader who can take responsibility for capital, institutional relationships and financial execution.
This should be a complementary partnership with clearly owned areas—not two people duplicating the same role.
Commitment and compensation
This is a genuine co-founder opportunity.
- Compensation is initially equity only.
- There is no salary before external funding is secured.
- Equity will be meaningful, subject to vesting and agreed according to responsibility, commitment and demonstrated contribution.
- A short, defined working period will take place before the permanent equity arrangement is finalised.
- Candidates must have enough availability to contribute consistently each week.
This is not suitable for success-fee fundraisers, introducers seeking commission, passive advisers or people collecting startup titles.
UK-wide candidates are welcome. Regular access to London would be useful for investors and finance partners, but delivery matters more than postcode.
How to apply
Please send a LinkedIn profile or CV, together with a short note covering:
- Your most relevant experience in fundraising, lending, asset finance or consumer finance.
- One example of a funding transaction or financial product you personally helped deliver.
- Your approximate weekly availability.
You do not need to submit a detailed proposal at this stage.
The first conversation will focus on your experience, how you would approach ChipIn’s capital requirements, and whether there is a strong working fit.
This opportunity is unlikely to suit:
- Generalist advisers without direct financing experience.
- Introducers whose involvement ends after making a connection.
- Candidates unable to commit consistent time before funding.
- Applicants seeking an upfront consultancy fee.
