Tom Blomfield
AcceleratorGroup Partner, Y Combinator
YC Group Partner, Monzo and GoCardless co-founder
Background
Tom Blomfield is a Group Partner at Y Combinator, where he has conducted over 1,000 office hours with portfolio companies across four batches. He co-founded GoCardless (YC S11), a UK direct debit payments processor, and Monzo, one of the first app-based challenger banks in the UK. Monzo raised over £500 million under his leadership. He stepped down as Monzo CEO in 2020 and joined Y Combinator full-time in 2021. He was awarded an OBE in 2019 for services to financial inclusion. The companies he has advised at YC are collectively valued at over $5 billion.
Investment Thesis
Backs early-stage founders building category-defining fintech and technology businesses; draws on deep operational experience scaling two billion-dollar companies from zero.
Investment Focus
Stages
Typical check: $25K–$250K (angel)
Sectors
Based in: Global (primary: US, UK) (North America)
Notable Investments
Xendit
YC-backed Southeast Asia payments platform (advised as YC Group Partner)
Fintual
YC-backed Latin America investment platform (advised as YC Group Partner)
Umba
Angel investment; Nigerian digital bank serving underserved African markets
Ellis
Angel investment; neobank for international students moving to the US
Robin AI
Angel investment; AI-powered legal contract review and drafting
Sona
Angel investment; workforce management for frontline workers