Sergio Tzianos

I love solving problems and building solutions that help people and business thrive and as an Engineer equipped with a Masters in Finance, I have had the chance to embark on multiple journeys that helped me pursue my passions

I started my career in 2009 at the Vodafone Group in the UK, joining in technology but quickly making the shift to Corporate Strategy and M&A

After a couple of years with Vodafone, I had the opportunity to leverage my Corporate Strategy experience to join the UK's largest SMB Bank, NatWest, taking a leadership role in the Commercial Cards and Payment strategy space

My pivotal moment came with the recognition of a critical pain point for SMBs in handling Accounts Payable. Propelled by this insight, I navigated the corporate landscape, securing seed and venture funding within NatWest. This led to the conceptualization and launch of an AP automation business within NatWest. Witnessing the potential to transform businesses, I steered the growth of APtimise, orchestrating its expansion to empower 200 mid-market businesses within 18 months from launch. This was a pivotal period for me personally, as I played a mini CEO role, building a team of 40 people spanning from product, marketing, sales, customer success, operations, while navigating the difficult / red-tape Banking landscape of compliance, RMs, Treasury, senior management and so on - I learned how Banking works which has equipped me with the ability to understand what it takes to work and be successful with Banks and Bank distribution

In 2019, driven by an innate entrepreneurial spirit, I took a leap into the world of entrepreneurship, co-founding Centime along with BC. Our dedication and vision materialized into a unique product we have built within a very short amount of time. While I wore every single hat in the business for the first couple of years, I'm now focussed on Product and GTM while helping, advising, mentoring / coaching across all functions based on my previous journeys and experiences in order to help us be successful as we are building our team and driving growth of our product. I am super excited to see our vision come together, our product mature and our product-market fit be proven every day. I am also thrilled by the team we've built and culture we have cultivated which is very unique, particularly given the difficulties we have faced with remote working and generally building a very complex business from the ground up

As a side hustle, and because I love building stuff, I have also built and launched a B2C / eCommerce business in the UK, sourcing and distributing artisan ceramics to UK households - I had to prove to myself that I could also build and scale a B2C business as B2C was an area I had never explored before

My journey is defined by a relentless pursuit of innovation, a knack for identifying opportunities, and a commitment to crafting solutions that empower businesses to thrive. I stand poised at the intersection of finance, technology, and entrepreneurship, driven by the ethos of driving impactful change and fostering growth