Teal Raises £1.4 Million to Transform Credit Checks with Real-Time Payroll Data

We're thrilled to announce that Teal has raised £1.4 million in pre-seed funding led by Passion Capital, with participation from ACF Investors, K Fund, and prominent angel investors from leading fintechs like Plaid and Checkout. This funding will help us bring instant income and employment verification to millions across the UK and redefine how lenders assess risk in the modern credit landscape.

Why Credit Decisioning Needs an Upgrade

Today, too many lenders still rely on outdated systems to assess income and employment: manual payslip uploads, static credit scores, and data that's often incomplete. These legacy processes not only slow down decision-making but also hold back individuals who deserve access to fair and affordable credit.

At Teal, we believe it's time for a better way. By connecting directly to payroll systems, with user consent at the core, we deliver real-time, verified income and employment data straight from the source. This means lenders can finally make faster, fairer, and more accurate decisions that reflect the realities of how people earn and live today.

"Traditional credit scoring is broken, relying too heavily on outdated processes that fail to deliver for lenders or borrowers. By enabling users to securely and accurately share their income data, we're unlocking access to credit that truly works for them."
Michael Hart, CEO and Co-founder of Teal

Building the Data Rails for Modern Credit

With the FCA's Consumer Duty now in full effect, lenders face new pressure to ensure their affordability checks are accurate, responsible, and transparent. But many still struggle to get timely, reliable income data, especially for gig workers, freelancers, and other non-traditional earners.

Teal's platform solves that problem by integrating directly with payroll and HCM providers, giving lenders a seamless way to access verified income and employment data. Our modular API architecture means lenders can integrate Teal into their existing workflows quickly and easily.

"By anchoring credit decisions in verified payroll data, Teal is helping reshape how affordability is measured, how loans are repaid, and ultimately, how people access credit."
Tim Mills, Managing Partner at ACF Investors

Looking Ahead: Smarter, Fairer, and More Inclusive Credit

With this new funding, we're expanding our integrations with UK and European payroll and HCM systems, growing our team, and accelerating adoption among lenders and credit platforms. We're also investing in extending our data infrastructure beyond payroll to incorporate additional income sources, giving lenders an even more complete view of each borrower's financial health.

"Teal's payroll infrastructure is laying the groundwork for a new generation of fintech products powered by source-level payroll data. It's exactly what the credit ecosystem needs right now."
Will Orde, Partner at Passion Capital

Join Us on the Journey

Teal was founded by Michael Hart, Andre Pinto, and Luchesar Cekov, who share deep experience across consumer banking, data infrastructure, and technology. Our platform is already live in the UK, helping lenders verify income and employment data in real time, with growing coverage across payroll and employment systems.

We're on a mission to build a credit system that works for everyone. With this new investment, we're doubling down on that commitment: expanding partnerships, growing our team, and giving lenders the tools they need to build fairer, faster, and more inclusive credit products.