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Thought Machine

Thought Machine was founded in 2014 to enable banks to deploy modern systems and move away from legacy IT platforms that plague the banking industry. Thought Machine does this through its cloud native core banking platform, Vault. This engine has been written from scratch entirely for the cloud.

 

What did the business need?

In 2016, Thought Machine was building out its core banking engine, Vault. Thought Machine drew on its experience working at leading technology companies and applied those engineering principles to the way Vault was built. Initial cash investment served as validation that Thought Machine were on the right track. The company hired more engineers and further refined the product. This series A round, with investment from the UK’s biggest bank, was the catalyst for growing the team even further, and beginning the process to secure the next set of clients.

 

What lasting value did PE/VC investment bring?

Early investors, board members and capital injection gave Thought Machine the kickstart it needed as the company started to enter the market. Advice from investors was critical in shaping the product, pricing, and go-to-market strategy. Thought Machine refined the way it positioned Vault, actively targeting the biggest banks in the world and the largest addressable market. The company dropped plans to take Vault in different directions – which would have distracted it from this end goal. Thought Machine incorporated investors’ advice on optimising hiring strategy, ensuring that it was selecting the best possible candidates to build Vault.

 

Future growth plans

The vision for Thought Machine remains the same from its earliest days – Vault will be the core banking engine which powers the biggest, most capitalised banks around the world. This means significant efforts have been taken to make Vault operational for tier one banks. Thought Machine is committed to refining the product, and shaping its internal processes in accordance with the strict requirements of multinational banks. This has led to Standard Chartered selecting Vault for its digital bank in Hong Kong – and for Lloyds Banking Group to go live on Vault.

“Ambitious businesses, like ours, require sizeable and early cash investment. Engineering talent, a key asset for Thought Machine, comes at a premium in London, and banking sales cycles are famously long. These costs were duly covered by our first rounds of funding – helping us build the momentum to stand Thought Machine up on its own feet. Our initial investors gave us the breathing space to build and sell Vault with relative freedom.”

Paul Taylor, Founder and CEO, Thought Machine