Female Founder Spotlight: In Conversation with Andreea Daly, Founder of Money Squirrel

Meet Andreea Daly: Founder of Money Squirrel 🐿️

Andreea Daly is a dynamic and determined entrepreneur who has carved an unconventional path into the world of tech. From nearly qualifying as a paralegal to co-founding a property services company, and eventually launching a fintech startup, Andreea's journey is anything but linear.

Now, as the founder of Money Squirrel, she is revolutionising personal finance automation, helping individuals take control of their savings with seamless, intelligent solutions.

In our candid conversation, Andreea shares how she navigated the unpredictable world of startups, the harsh realities of fundraising, and the unique challenges she has faced as a solo female founder.

FC: Tell us a little about your background and how you got into the tech world.

AD: I think I have the most squiggly career path ever. I’m not an engineer, but I work in software and absolutely love it. I’ve been a techie for 10 years, but I fell into it completely by accident.

I started university but didn’t finish. By my second year, I wanted to switch courses for the third time and thought, no, I’ll just go straight into full-time work. I nearly became a paralegal and conveyancer—completely unrelated to where I am now. Then, at 26, I co-founded a property services company, which was my first real taste of running a business.

That was during a time when tech was starting to disrupt estate agency and property services. We were unintentionally ahead of the curve, but I wouldn’t have called myself a tech founder back then. I later left that business and ended up in recruitment—terrible advice from someone, by the way! I hated it, as I expected I would.

Then someone said to me, You’re really organised—you should be a project manager. I didn’t even realise that was a career path. But I took my first PM job in a tech company, and I’ve never looked back. Over the past decade, I’ve contracted, consulted, worked for myself, and done full-time roles in tech. The way I see it, every problem can be solved with technology.

FC: So how did Money Squirrel come about?

AD: Honestly, I was solving my own problem. I kept moving the same percentage of money from incoming payments over and over again. I thought, this is an automation—surely someone else has built this?

I looked around and couldn’t find anything like it, at least not in the UK. So we built it.

FC: That’s often a good sign—when you assume something already exists and find out it doesn’t.

AD: Exactly! We were convinced it must exist somewhere, but after a lot of research, we realised there was a genuine gap in the market.

FC: What was the fundraising journey like for you?

AD: Horrific, from start to finish. And to be honest, it still is.

I don’t come from a wealthy background, and that makes a huge difference. It’s not a sob story, just a fact—I don’t have rich friends or family members who can write me a cheque. As a first-time founder, I didn’t have a track record to leverage either, which made it even harder.

If you don’t already have a network in the investment world, it’s nearly impossible. Anyone who says you just have to “hustle harder” is talking absolute nonsense.

FC: That’s refreshingly honest. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it put quite like that before.

AD: It’s the truth. The network is everything. When I first got into this, I didn’t know the financial jargon or how investment rounds worked. I had to teach myself. Even now, after a year of studying it, I still feel lost sometimes.

I’ve had experts walk me through cap tables, and each one has explained it differently. If even they can’t agree on the numbers, what hope do I have?

FC: Did you go down the VC route?

AD: No, not yet. I decided to keep our pre-seed round under £250k instead of trying to raise a much bigger amount. A single VC could have written that cheque, but at the time, we weren’t positioned as a VC-scale company. Even I knew that.

FC: Do you think being a female founder created additional challenges?

AD: I hate sounding like I’m complaining, but yes, absolutely.

Everyone faces biases of some kind, but when you’re fundraising, people are looking for reasons to say no. Investors see a woman without a technical background and assume there’s a gap in the business that needs filling. The first question I always get is: Where’s your technical co-founder?

I don’t always get the chance to explain that I’ve already solved that problem in another way.

Tech is a white, male-dominated world. I’ve learned to navigate it, but I also know when I’m in the wrong room. If I sense that, I leave. I don’t waste my energy trying to convince people who don’t want to be convinced.

FC: That makes sense. There’s data showing that identical pitches are more likely to get funding if a man delivers them instead of a woman.

AD: Exactly. I can’t say I’ve experienced that bias in an obvious way, but I know the stats. And I know that being a solo female founder is another hurdle—investors prefer a founding team.

FC: What’s been the hardest part of starting Money Squirrel?

AD: The financial challenge. People don’t talk about this enough.

I’ve been working the equivalent of two or three jobs at once—one to pay my bills, one to bootstrap the business, and one to actually build the business. I don’t have kids, so I can make it work, but I honestly don’t know how founders with children do it.

FC: So why do you think people put themselves through it? What drives entrepreneurs?

AD: Some people just have it in them. I don’t call myself an entrepreneur, but I am a problem solver. When I see a problem, I have to fix it.

I didn’t come from money, so I can’t afford to experiment with ideas until something sticks. I have to be strategic. I’m building Money Squirrel because I know it can help people, especially underrepresented founders and SMEs who don’t come from privileged backgrounds.

FC: That’s really admirable. What advice would you give young women who want to start their own business?

AD: Be open to unexpected paths. My career has been anything but linear, and that’s okay.

Founders pivot all the time. The key is to be intentional but not rigid—go to events, meet people, and test your ideas. If you fail, you’ll still learn things that will help you next time.

Failure isn’t the opposite of success—it’s part of the journey.

FC: That’s a great mindset. So, what’s next for Money Squirrel?

AD: We’ve just closed our pre-seed round, which is a huge milestone! I’m finally able to pay myself.

We’ve also announced our partnership with Sage and held our big launch celebration at their offices at the Shard. There’s a lot happening!

FC: Thank you for sharing your story, Andreea. Your resilience and honesty are inspiring.

AD: Thanks for having me!

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📢 Author: Gideon Stott, Digital Marketing Executive at FounderCatalyst