We’re thrilled to welcome Steve Lemon to the team as a Partner of Volution.

Steve, who has been supporting our portfolio for several months as one of our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, joined at the start of September and will be responsible for sourcing and leading new deals, as well as supporting existing Volution portfolio companies.

With 20+ years’ operational experience in fintech, FX and payments, Steve joins Volution from Currencycloud, which he co-founded and was most recently VP, Partners and Enterprise. He was directly responsible for originating, cultivating, and managing the Visa partnership, which led to the Series E investment and ultimately the acquisition of Currencycloud for $1bn.

Steve brings to the partnership deep domain expertise and a very personal understanding of the milestones and challenges of building a billion-dollar UK fintech business.

Here, we get to know Steve, why has moved from founder to investor, why he believes in Volution’s mission and what he hopes to bring to the table:

What is your greatest achievement and your greatest learning from your time at Currencycloud?

There are lots of milestones and achievements on the journey of any company - from the germination of the idea, bringing together a team behind the idea, releasing an MVP, establishing product market fit and go to market strategies.

Behind every exit is a huge amount of work from a high-performing team. And I think that was our greatest achievement at Currencycloud – we created a fantastic group of teams, empowered them and got out of their way. Currencycloud really is all about the people.

Why did you decide to make the move from founder to investor?

I’ve always been interested in the investor side of the ecosystem. Our investors played a critical role in helping us get stood up and able to break through.

There was far more to it than just providing capital. Ours provided coaching, mentoring, business introductions, subject matter expert introductions to name a few.

This support infrastructure was invaluable to us in the early days – being on the other side of the table isn’t just a new business opportunity, it’s payback to the community. 

What was it that drew you to Volution?

Volution’s current strategy of helping plug funding gaps between formal funding rounds really resonates.

We had real challenges between A & B, and between B & C. As an entrepreneur, it’s challenging enough building a business without having to navigate the challenges and peculiarities of the funding market. You just want the right amount of capital, on a basis that makes sense, at the right time. Volution provides this. 

What do you hope to achieve at Volution? 

I hope to bring to bear the learnings, experiences and network contacts I collated over the last 1 3 years to add value to our portfolio companies. Ultimately, I see a huge opportunity to help grow Volution into a leading multi fund, multi strategy, investment management business serving an ecosystem I know well. That’s exciting.

What advice would you give to a founder after they have reached Series A?

Take a moment. Congratulate yourself. Prioritise exercise, rest & diet – and then buckle up. You’re in for an exhilarating, terrifying ride. It’s the hardest journey you’ll go on, so you’ll need to ensure to prioritise both your wellbeing and that of your team.

And did I mention that team is everything? 

You can read Steve’s full blog post here.