How we teamed up with two fintech founders to launch a platform in three months, build a team of 50, and exit the business.
What we did: Prototyping, MVP build, UI design, web development, digital branding
“We've worked with Rise from day one. They've been an integral part of our team. Within three years, HD Decisions won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award. What really stood out during the judging was our client base and growth trajectory - both a reflection of what we achieved together. Shortly after, we were acquired. That's a happy ending for a lot of startups. Rise are a bright team who deliver the highest quality. You can rely on them.”
- Mark Hawkins, Co-founder, HD Decisions
Here's the thing about HD Decisions. The starting team were brilliant at what they did - understanding what consumer data could reveal when you interpreted it in the right ways, and what that meant for financial decisions. They'd spotted a gap in the market for a smart loan search service, one that used data to pre-qualify consumers before they applied for credit cards, loans, or mortgages. No more guessing. No more rejected applications. A genuinely better experience for people trying to make sensible financial choices.
But they didn't have a technical team. They didn't have a platform. They didn't have a UI, an API strategy, or a mobile experience. What they had was a very good idea, a very real fear that someone else would get there first, and the good sense to know they needed help.
"We know what we want it to do. We just don't know how to build it."
Sound familiar? That's the conversation that starts about 80% of our projects. And it's a perfectly reasonable place to be.
Speed was everything. The co-founders weren't interested in months of discovery workshops or protracted planning phases. They wanted to get their platform embedded into aggregator sites like MoneySupermarket and Confused.com, and they wanted it done before a competitor materialised out of thin air. Which, in fintech, can happen alarmingly quickly.
So we moved fast. Not recklessly - there's a difference - but with the kind of focused urgency that startup life demands. The attitude was simple: prove the concept, get it out there, learn from real users. Don't chase perfection. Chase traction.
The goal was never to build something flawless. It was to build something real, get it in front of people, and iterate from there.
We designed and developed a mobile-friendly experience that was visual, intuitive, and - this matters more than people think - actually enjoyable to use. We built the API layer that let credit bureau websites talk to each other. And we got it live within three months.
Launching a platform is one thing. What happens after launch is where most startups either fly or quietly unravel. And Mark and his co-founders were smart enough to think about that from day one.
We knew we weren't going to be around forever. That was the deal, and we were fine with it. Like a rocket shedding its boosters after the initial thrust, our role was specific and time-bound: get the platform launched, then make sure the team we left behind could run with it.
So alongside the build, we recruited and trained an in-house team. Not a couple of developers to keep the lights on - a proper, skilled team of over 50 people who understood the technology, the processes, and what good digital governance actually looks like day-to-day. Because a startup that's permanently dependent on an external agency isn't a startup with a future. It's a startup with a recurring invoice.
Once the platform was live on MoneySupermarket and Confused.com, things moved quickly. Real sales. Real users. Real validation that the idea wasn't just clever - it was commercially viable.
Within three years of launch, HD Decisions had won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award, built an impressive client base, and - the bit that matters most to founders reading this - been acquired. Mark and his co-founder Matt exited the business. That's the outcome every founder dreams about but few actually achieve.
Three months from concept to launch. Three years from launch to acquisition. That's what happens when you validate fast and build smart.
HD Decisions worked because the founders didn't try to do everything themselves, and they didn't wait until conditions were perfect. They had domain expertise, a clear gap in the market, and the willingness to move fast with the right partner alongside them.
They weren't technical. That didn't matter. What mattered was that they knew their market cold, they trusted the process, and they didn't get precious about launching before every pixel was perfect.
If you're a founder with a fintech idea - or any idea, really - and you're stuck in the gap between "I know this could work" and "I have no idea how to build it", that's exactly the gap we exist to close.
Got an idea you want to talk through? Book a 30-minute discovery call with one of Rise's founders. No obligation, no hard sell - just an honest conversation about your idea, where it's strong, and what it'd take to bring it to life. You'll come away with something useful either way.
30 minutes. One conversation. No obligation.
