Our strength is the people behind Arkadia and our values. By this, I don’t just mean the founding team but also our advocates and our community. We have had a rollercoaster ride of a journey, but ultimately the vision and our values alignment means that we continue pushing no matter the odds”.
Ellis Hudson CEO
Meet our team
Ellis Hudson
Cofounder & CEO
Cofounder & Chief Executive Officer
Ellis Hudson
Ellis has a first-in-class MSc Finance and Law (Distinction) and LLB (Hons) Law degree. He has worked as an Investment Banking Project Manager for HNA Group – a Multinational Fortune 500 Conglomerate. He has international financial and legal experience in handling multi-billion dollar projects.
Patrick Brady Grant
Cofounder & CMO
cofounder & Chief marketing officer
Patrick Brady Grant
With a 1st class (Hons) degree and 10 years’ digital marketing experience, Patrick is an experienced marketing professional. He is also an experienced entrepreneur having run multiple ventures.
Kerry Frater
Cofounder & CTO
cofounder & chief technology officer
Kerry Frater
Kerry has a background in B2B and B2C Software. With over 30 years’ experience at all levels within the industry. Since selling his award-winning software company developing solutions in the legal industry, Kerry has been working with various companies in management and consultancy roles.
Advisors and advocates
Justine Lutterodt
Director, Centre for Synchronous Leadership
Justine has worked with senior executives and teams from Fortune 500 companies, top-tier professional firms and has won awards for work in the diversity space. She is also a regular conference speaker, an occasional lecturer at LSE, and the founder of several leadership initiatives – including Inspire Like a Man, Lead Like a Woman, The Elephant in the Boardroom, and Africa Women’s Circle.
Zarine Kharas DBE
Co-founder & Ex Ceo,
Just Giving
Zarine Kharas co-founder of Just Giving has rewritten the fund-raising rulebook bring charities to the Dotcom era. Just Giving brings technology within reach of even the smallest charities, the site has helped raise over £500m for good causes and has changed how the sector operates.
James Alexander
Co-founder & Ex-CEO
Zopa
James is a pioneer in peer-to-peer lending, creating what is now globally a £100 billion sector. Currently, James is a Director of Future Agenda.org an open-source think tank and advisory delivering foresight, strategy and innovation to some of the world’s leading organisations such as Facebook, Apple, WWF & and Mastercard.
Ade Onigbanjo
Managing Director,
Triton Strategies
Ade has a background in management consulting and investment banking technology. For over twenty years he has worked in technology, leadership and consulting roles at JPMorgan, Accenture and Nomura in London, New York and Tokyo. He has worked across fixed income trading desks, covering algorithmic trading, pricing and risk management, as well as end-to-end technology architecture.
Fausto Dassenno
Head of Product,
Gumtree
An expert in blockchain technology, Fausto has a wealth of digital experience that includes the product development of online job search engines, and the creation of online platforms for eBay, moonsubmarine and Fueps. He has also worked at Gumtree, as senior product designer, engineering manager and head of product and tech.
Joseph Dankwa
Chief ExEcutive officer, IGAIT Finaconsult
Joseph a member of the Ghanaian royal family began his career at Deloitte in Ghana. He has extensive experience in financial accounting and has taken a prominent role in Ghanaian microfinance. In the early 2000s, he relocated to the UK where he became principal partner, then CEO, of a financial consultancy. Joseph is a graduate of the Institute of Professional Studies, Legon, Ghana.
Ama Ocansey
Senior Legal Counsel,
BNP Paribas
Ama has focused much of her legal career on investment in emerging capital markets. She has years of experience working on high-value transactions with clients in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Russia and CIS countries. She is also a board member of the Financial Inclusion Forum.
Patrick Butler
Managing Director,
Calitor Limited
Patrick has over 25 years’ experience in government, investment banking origination and execution, business management, risk leadership and transformation. He has successfully developed, implemented and run major programmes of investment and risk management for a range of diverse stakeholders – regulators, bankers and risk professionals.
Carlos Mendes
VP Financial
Services, RGP
Carlos has experience in revenue growth, cost elimination and maximizing value from business, IT, and fintech investments. His international experience includes investment banking, digital banking and insurance, business development, alternative investment, strategic alliances, data analytics, financial management and emerging markets.
Nick Geoca
Co-Founder SU2
Blockchain Group
Nick has worked in the development of both blockchain technology and the verification of smart contracts. He has also created open source projects in machine learning, and is a passionate advocate of the importance of transparency and security in financial technology.
Rez Khan
Co-Founder SU2
Blockchain Group
Currently a blockchain consultant, Rez also has successful experience as a data scientist specialising in machine learning and cybersecurity. He is also an expert in smart contract development, seeing their potential to benefit society.
Join our team!
We’re beginning our journey, and we’re looking for talented and driven individuals to help us achieve our ambitious and vision. What to be a part of it? Then fill out this contact form and lets arrange a chat or message one of our friendly cofounders on LinkedIn.
