London-based fintech scale-up building an all-in-one platform for small business finance. Raised $49.4M, named UK’s fastest-growing private fintech startup by Sifted (2026).
London-based fintech scale-up building an all-in-one platform for small business finance. Raised $49.4M, named UK’s fastest-growing private fintech startup by Sifted (2026).
Apron named UK’s fastest growing fintech startup by Sifted
Apron named UK’s fastest growing fintech startup by Sifted
Apron, 2026
Apron, 2026
Tech Billionaire And Ex-Apple Executive Join Apron’s $30 Million Funding Round
Tech Billionaire And Ex-Apple Executive Join Apron’s $30 Million Funding Round
Forbes, 2024
Forbes, 2024
My role
My role
Joined as the 2nd product designer during stealth (14 employees) and scaled the design function alongside the company's growth to Series B (100+ employees).
Joined as the 2nd product designer during stealth (14 employees) and scaled the design function alongside the company's growth to Series B (100+ employees).
Led the vision and execution for Apron Card and Apron Capture, transforming the product from a simple payment tool into a multi-workflow financial platform. Oversaw the Apron Design System, ensuring scalability and consistency across the engineering team.
Led the vision and execution for Apron Card and Apron Capture, transforming the product from a simple payment tool into a multi-workflow financial platform. Oversaw the Apron Design System, ensuring scalability and consistency across the engineering team.
Apron Card
Apron Card
The traditional expense workflow was a manual, error-prone bottleneck that consumed hours of valuable administrative time. Business owners and finance teams needed to manually match paper receipts to credit card statements, chase missing documents via email chains, and correct data entry errors.
The traditional expense workflow was a manual, error-prone bottleneck that consumed hours of valuable administrative time. Business owners and finance teams needed to manually match paper receipts to credit card statements, chase missing documents via email chains, and correct data entry errors.
This "administrative tax" diverted resources away from strategic financial planning. Worse, the manual process meant that by the time an expense was finally recorded, the transaction was often already months old, rendering the data useless for immediate decision-making.
This "administrative tax" diverted resources away from strategic financial planning. Worse, the manual process meant that by the time an expense was finally recorded, the transaction was often already months old, rendering the data useless for immediate decision-making.
Partnered with CEO and research lead to conduct 10+ on-site interviews with restaurant owners in London uncovering their pains with existing expense management solutions. Defined value proposition and initial GA scope.
Partnered with CEO and research lead to conduct 10+ on-site interviews with restaurant owners in London uncovering their pains with existing expense management solutions. Defined value proposition and initial GA scope.
Built a multi-layer receipt chasing system that collects missing documents ranging from fully automated (eg inbox fetch), self-serve (eg push notifications, tasks actions) to manual reminders triggered by accountants.
Built a multi-layer receipt chasing system that collects missing documents ranging from fully automated (eg inbox fetch), self-serve (eg push notifications, tasks actions) to manual reminders triggered by accountants.
Led the end-to-end design of core features including physical card ordering, approvals, reimbursements, expense policies, auto top-ups, 3DS, and digital wallet integrations (Apple/Google Pay).
Led the end-to-end design of core features including physical card ordering, approvals, reimbursements, expense policies, auto top-ups, 3DS, and digital wallet integrations (Apple/Google Pay).
We achieved a 20x reduction in time-to-upload for receipts compared to non-users, effectively eliminating the industry's #1 pain point in expense management.
We achieved a 20x reduction in time-to-upload for receipts compared to non-users, effectively eliminating the industry's #1 pain point in expense management.
Apron Capture
Apron Capture
Our research revealed a fundamental flaw in the market: existing solutions treated "payments" and "bookkeeping" as distinct products, ignoring that a bill is inherently both a tax document and a cash-outflow event.
Our research revealed a fundamental flaw in the market: existing solutions treated "payments" and "bookkeeping" as distinct products, ignoring that a bill is inherently both a tax document and a cash-outflow event.
By forcing users to choose between "paying now" or "recording later," we were fragmenting their financial reality. This artificial separation meant that critical context (like vendor notes or budget codes) was often lost during the handoff, leaving business owners flying blind on their cash flow and compliance status.
By forcing users to choose between "paying now" or "recording later," we were fragmenting their financial reality. This artificial separation meant that critical context (like vendor notes or budget codes) was often lost during the handoff, leaving business owners flying blind on their cash flow and compliance status.
Led the project with design partners from the UK accounting community, iterating on system design and information architecture from high-level concepts down to specific integration constraints (e.g., Xero limitations) and bookkeeping preferences.
Led the project with design partners from the UK accounting community, iterating on system design and information architecture from high-level concepts down to specific integration constraints (e.g., Xero limitations) and bookkeeping preferences.
Designed a parallel workflow system where payment approval and ledger booking happen simultaneously. This eliminated manual re-entry, streamlined approvals, and automated reconciliation.
Designed a parallel workflow system where payment approval and ledger booking happen simultaneously. This eliminated manual re-entry, streamlined approvals, and automated reconciliation.
The product became a market leader, winning Data Capture App of the Year at the LUCA Awards for two consecutive years (2024, 2025) and being shortlisted as the "Bookkeepers' Friendliest Software."
The product became a market leader, winning Data Capture App of the Year at the LUCA Awards for two consecutive years (2024, 2025) and being shortlisted as the "Bookkeepers' Friendliest Software."
Data Capture App of the Year, Winner 🏆
Data Capture App of the Year, Winner 🏆
LUCA Awards, 2025
LUCA Awards, 2025
The Bookkeepers’ Friendliest Software of the Year, Finalist
The Bookkeepers’ Friendliest Software of the Year, Finalist
LUCA Awards, 2025
LUCA Awards, 2025
Data Capture App of the Year, Winner 🏆
Data Capture App of the Year, Winner 🏆
LUCA Awards, 2024
LUCA Awards, 2024
Bookkeeping Software of the Year, Finalist
Bookkeeping Software of the Year, Finalist
LUCA Awards, 2024
LUCA Awards, 2024
Platform & Infrastructure
Platform & Infrastructure
Delivered critical infrastructure projects including Billing, User/Entity Management, Confirmation of Payee, KYB, and Backoffice tools, ensuring the platform could scale securely and compliantly.
Delivered critical infrastructure projects including Billing, User/Entity Management, Confirmation of Payee, KYB, and Backoffice tools, ensuring the platform could scale securely and compliantly.
2026 Arthur Abrarov
2026 Arthur Abrarov