Welcome to the third edition of TSL’s community-sourced newsletter. 💜 Enjoy the read!

This week, we’re putting the spotlight on Sabrina Del Prete of KORE Labs. She’s done the remarkable job of building a fintech at age 50 serving 120m people with zero VC funding!

Have you tuned in to our latest episode with Raffi Salama of Passionfruit? He’s transforming the freelance talent landscape, working with brands like PepsiCo and Mars, all while raising over £14 million!

Lastly, we’ve pulled together some resources to help you take that Leap!

Episode Spotlight ✨: Built Fintech Startup Serving 120m People With Zero VC Funding - KORE Labs

On this episode, we spotlight Sabrina Del Prete, founder of KORE Labs. After nearly three decades in finance, including leadership roles at Barclays, Coutts Digital and J.P. Morgan, Sabrina saw a major gap in the fintech landscape: while fintech was gaining traction, the critical infrastructure for regulatory compliance lagged behind. At age 50, Sabrina defied conventional expectations about tech founders and launched KORE Labs to fill this void. Without any VC backing, she raised an impressive £11 million, including £2.7 million in grant funding, and built KORE Labs from the ground up to support some of Europe’s largest banks.

Sabrina dives deep into how she validated her idea, went through four CTOs before finding the right fit, and secured her first client—Italy’s largest bank. She shares her playbook on navigating the notoriously long financial sales cycles and her approach to building a resilient, inclusive team. Sabrina’s story is packed with insights on tackling massive industry problems, bootstrapping a vision, and leveraging years of expertise to disrupt from within. ‪

In this episode, we cover:

00:02:36 – Identifying the gap in the fintech landscape

00:05:25 – Founding KORE Labs to tackle compliance in financial services

00:08:20 – The importance of product intelligence and regulation

00:10:51 – How Sabrina’s banking career shaped her entrepreneurial journey and inspired her to take that leap

00:14:01 – Testing her business idea and validating the market

00:16:40 – Securing her first client: Italy’s largest bank

00:18:20 – Navigating 18-month financial sales cycles

00:29:25 – Leveraging government grants for innovation funding

00:35:55 – Raising £11 million without VC funding

00:43:45 – Building a resilient, value-driven team culture

Key takeaways:

🎯 Navigating Financial Sales Cycles: Sabrina shares strategies for founders in regulated sectors: expect timelines of 12-18 months and reduce friction by offering free, time-boxed trials over paid pilots. This approach accelerates validation while maintaining momentum. For start-ups targeting enterprise clients, Sabrina recommends pre-empting client needs with ready-made business cases and investing in certifications like ISO 27001 to simplify due diligence processes, ultimately accelerating onboarding times by removing friction points.

📚 Leveraging Government Grants for Innovation: Sabrina outlines how KORE Labs strategically tapped into government funding, securing over £2.7 million in grants through Innovate UK. This funding supported essential R&D and ISO certifications, critical for scaling in a risk-averse industry. She highlights that for founders, especially those in technical fields, grants can bridge early funding gaps, allowing them to develop robust solutions before seeking private investment. Check out our episode with Oluwaseyi Sosanya, founder of Gravity Sketch who also speaks about being a recipient of the Innovate UK grant.

👥 Building a Mission-Aligned Team: Sabrina emphasises the importance of assembling a team that not only brings technical expertise but shares the core values of trust, inclusivity, and respect. By prioritising individuals who resonate with KORE Labs’ collaborative culture, she’s fostered an environment that empowers diverse voices, including women and parents, and maintains a flat organisational structure.

Watch or Listen to the episode on your next commute to get in-depth insights!

Have you listened to our latest episode? ✨ From Working with David Beckham to Founder of Marketing Talent Marketplace - Passionfruit

We sat down with Raffi Salama, CEO and co-founder of Passionfruit, a freelance talent marketplace that's already helping top brands like PepsiCo and Mars transform their marketing efforts. 🚀

Raffi shares his journey from working with David Beckham at Inter Miami to building Passionfruit, including how he navigated early challenges in scaling a two-sided marketplace. His team has raised over £14 million in funding, leaning on insights into the evolving future of work and a strong commitment to freelancers' support.

For founders building B2B marketplaces or interested in the freelance economy, Raffi’s story is full of actionable advice, from balancing demand and supply to knowing when to scale up your ambitions.

Resources to help you take the Leap📚

💼Since we’re talking about Sales, see Paul Gassée’s article on the Greatest Sales Mistakes Founders Make.

💸Guide on the 21 types of Revenue Models by Pankaj Singh.

🌍Guide on the Mistakes that most First Time Entrepreneurs make by, friend of the show, Timothy Armoo (you can catch his TSL episode here).

Thanks for reading 💜

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TSL Team 💜