Engineered Trudy's Revenue Pipeline and Finance Stack From Scratch
Trudy, a Seed-stage AI company in London, has profiled more than ten million creators and uses psychometrics and behavioural science to predict how well a creator will sell for a given brand. Co-founder Philip Madero Hammarskiöld runs finance for the five-person team with no dedicated finance hire, steering the company toward profitability on minimal external capital.
He replaced spreadsheets and bank statements with a finance stack built from scratch: automated transaction categorisation, multi-currency billing, and equity governance on SeedLegals. He ran all three funding rounds at zero placement cost and, as a trained lawyer, negotiates every API licence personally.
His automated revenue pipeline uses the product as the pitch: each prospect receives their own top creator matches, scored and explained, before the first conversation begins. Every piece of automation, across finance and revenue, runs as production software versioned in GitHub, built with AI coding tools without consuming the engineering roadmap. His rule throughout: AI drafts, humans sign.
Finance is one of the most under-leveraged growth levers a startup has.
The best finance leaders don't just keep the books. They extend runway,
structure capital that changes what a company can do next, and build the
systems that let it scale across borders.
Startup Finance 30 is the first list built to recognise that work.
Beginning in 2026 and continuing annually, we name 30 finance leaders at
venture-backed, globally ambitious startups. The operators shaping how the
next generation of companies grow.
What Startup Finance 30 is
“
Who's doing the most consequential finance work in the startup world right now?
This list is the answer.
FAQ
More information on how SF30 works.
Who's behind Startup Finance 30?
Startup Finance 30 is published by Airwallex. We built it because we work with globally ambitious companies every day, and the finance leaders driving that growth deserve more recognition than they get. Selection sits with the committee.
Who selects the final 30?
A committee of operating CFOs and finance leaders. They score every candidate against a five-part merit rubric and ratify the final list. See the full
selection methodology.
Is there a fee? Can I pay to be included?
No. It's free to enter, and recognition is earned on merit.
