Two London startups announced rounds on September 15 and 16 2026 that tell you exactly where British venture capital is heading in the final quarter of the year. Both are AI companies. Both are targeting markets where incumbents have had it too easy for too long. Both raised from investors who have backed category-defining companies before. And both are solving problems so obvious that the only question is why nobody built them properly until now.
This is the week that confirmed London’s position as Europe’s AI hiring and AI wealthtech capital. Follow every UK startup funding story at BestStartup UK.
Jack and Jill Raises $40 Million Series A. An AI Agent for Every Job Seeker. An AI Agent for Every Employer.
Here is the problem with hiring as it exists today. Employers post a job and receive 500 applications. They screen 50. They interview 10. They hire 1. The other 499 people who applied receive nothing — not a rejection, not feedback, not a word. They simply disappear into the void. On the other side, job seekers spend hours crafting applications for roles they will never hear back about, tailoring CVs for applicant tracking systems designed to filter people out rather than find people worth talking to.
Jack and Jill was built because this is broken beyond repair and the only fix is to change the entire model. On September 15 2026, the London company announced a $40 million Series A led by Air Street Capital, with Madrona and Antler joining as new investors. Creandum, Ada Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Expedite Capital, Repeat.vc, Dig Ventures, Firedrop, Episode 1, and Playfair all returned from the seed round. Total funding is now $60 million — raised in under a year since the $20 million seed. Read more UK AI startup stories at BestStartup UK.
Two AI Agents. One Hiring Table. No Applications.
The product is exactly what the company name suggests. Jack is an AI agent that works for the job seeker. Jill is an AI agent that works for the employer. They operate independently — learning what each side actually wants, not what each side claims to want — and an introduction is made only when both conclude that the match is worth pursuing. The candidate never fills out an application. The hiring manager never reads a CV from someone who does not have a genuine shot at the role.
Jack learns about candidates through voice calls, email, and WhatsApp — the communication channels people actually use. Jill interrogates job descriptions and the hiring managers behind them, building a model of what success in each role actually looks like beyond the bullet points on the posting. The result is a warm introduction directly to the hiring manager, made only when both sides would take the call.
The numbers are early but striking. Jack has 350,000 candidates in his network. Jill has worked with 5,000 companies. Together they have arranged 25,000 interviews, with 5,000 per month now in the pipeline. One candidate called Jack 144 times. Collectively, candidates have spent 12,000 hours talking to him. That is not a product metric. That is a signal that people who have been failed by the traditional hiring process are genuinely desperate for something better.
The founders are Matt Wilson — previously CEO of Omnipresent, the employer of record platform acquired by Deel — and Saaras Mehan, previously of Kular.ai. Wilson’s exit gave him the credibility and the capital to start again with a much bigger ambition. His stated goal is to provide a hiring agent for a billion people. The $40 million Series A funds US expansion — Jack and Jill has already launched in San Francisco and New York. Nathan Benaich, the Air Street Capital general partner who led the round, put the thesis simply: the next leap in hiring will come from putting an agent on both sides of the table.
Quartz Raises £2.75 Million Pre-Seed. A Personal Banker for Everyone Who Cannot Afford One.
The day after Jack and Jill’s announcement, on September 16 2026, London fintech Quartz launched in the UK with £2.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Daphni, with Outward VC and K Fund also participating. Angel investors include Philippe Gelis — who built Kantox and sold it to BNP Paribas for approximately €120 million — and Gilles BianRosa, former Chief Product Officer at both N26 and Kraken.
Quartz was founded by former Revolut Head of Global Expansion André Silva and former N26 Investment Product Lead Mateus Mesquita Alves. The company builds what it calls a platform that gives every person the kind of whole-wealth overview and continuous attention that a private banker provides — without the entry ticket. UK private banks typically require £750,000 to £3 million in investable assets. Quartz has no minimum.
The application connects all of the user’s accounts, including those for pensions, ISAs, savings, and investments. It also features Charlie, a conversational AI which Silva refers to as a personal banker. Charlie uses information about the user’s finances alongside market developments to provide personalised insights and highlight information relevant to their portfolio. The system is built on models from Anthropic and OpenAI, and is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as an Account Information Service Provider.
The Quartz model is not about replacing human financial advisers for high-net-worth clients. It is about democratising the quality of financial thinking that wealthy people have always had access to and extending it to the 99 percent of the UK population that private banks will not touch. The founders bring the operational depth to execute this — Revolut and N26 are two of the most important companies in European fintech history, and the people who built their expansion and product infrastructure understand how to scale financial services at speed.
UK AI Sovereign Fund. The Structural Backdrop to Both Rounds.
Jack and Jill and Quartz are announcing into a UK AI funding environment that has been transformed in 2026. UK startups raised roughly $17 billion in the first half of 2026 — the strongest opening half since 2022 — with AI taking approximately $12.6 billion of it, close to three-quarters of the total and more than four times the same period in 2025. The UK took 39 percent of all European venture capital in the first half.
The structural backdrop also includes the UK government’s £500 million Sovereign AI Fund, established in April 2026 to invest directly in early-stage and growth-stage British AI companies. The fund is designed to build homegrown AI capabilities and reduce reliance on foreign technology providers. Its managing partner is Suzanne Ashman, formerly of LocalGlobe and Latitude.
For founders building AI companies in London right now, the combination of deep private capital markets, government strategic backing, and a regulatory environment sophisticated enough for companies like Quartz to operate under FCA registration from day one creates conditions that are genuinely exceptional by global standards. London is not trying to compete with San Francisco on volume. It is building a different kind of AI ecosystem — one with more regulatory rigour, more enterprise depth, and more institutional capital than anywhere else in Europe. Follow every UK startup funding story at BestStartup UK.
What These Two Rounds Tell UK Founders
Jack and Jill and Quartz are built on the same insight expressed in two different markets. The insight is that high-quality, personalised service — the kind that has historically required expensive human professionals — can now be delivered by AI at a fraction of the cost to people who have always been excluded from it. A personal hiring agent for every job seeker. A personal banker for every saver. The market size in both cases is effectively the entire working adult population of the UK and beyond.
For UK founders watching these rounds, the lesson is structural rather than tactical. Both companies identified a market where the incumbent experience is genuinely broken or genuinely inaccessible, built an AI-native product that does not try to replicate the incumbent model but replaces the underlying interaction entirely, and raised from investors with sector-specific conviction rather than generalist funds chasing the AI category broadly.
Also read: Nexeon raises £100 million — National Wealth Fund backs UK battery revolution. Follow every UK startup story at BestStartup UK.
Key Takeaways
Jack and Jill raised $40 million Series A on September 15 2026 led by Air Street Capital. Total funding is $60 million after a $20 million seed round ten months ago. The London company builds two AI agents — Jack for job seekers, Jill for employers — that only introduce parties when both sides signal mutual fit. 350,000 candidates and 5,000 companies use the platform. 25,000 interviews have been arranged at 5,000 per month. Co-founders are Matt Wilson and Saaras Mehan. US expansion is underway in San Francisco and New York. Quartz raised £2.75 million pre-seed on September 16 2026 led by Daphni. Founded by former Revolut and N26 executives. Connects pensions, ISAs, savings, and investments into one app. AI assistant Charlie acts as a personal banker. Registered with FCA as Account Information Service Provider. UK startups raised $17 billion in H1 2026 with AI taking $12.6 billion. The UK government’s £500 million Sovereign AI Fund backs British AI companies from seed to growth stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Jack and Jill and how much did it raise?
Jack and Jill is a London-based AI hiring marketplace founded by Matt Wilson and Saaras Mehan. It raised $40 million in a Series A on September 15 2026 led by Air Street Capital, bringing total funding to $60 million. The company builds two AI agents — Jack works for job seekers and Jill works for employers — introducing parties only when both sides agree on a match. No job application is required.
What is Quartz and what did it raise?
Quartz is a London fintech founded by former Revolut and N26 executives that raised £2.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Daphni on September 16 2026. It gives every person access to the kind of whole-wealth overview and AI-powered financial guidance that private banks provide to high-net-worth clients, with no minimum investable assets. Its AI assistant Charlie acts as a personal banker connecting all financial accounts in one app.
Who led the Jack and Jill Series A?
Air Street Capital led the Jack and Jill $40 million Series A. New investors Madrona and Antler joined, while existing investors Creandum, Ada Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, Expedite Capital, Repeat.vc, Dig Ventures, Firedrop, Episode 1, and Playfair all returned. Nathan Benaich, Air Street’s general partner, led the round.
How much have UK startups raised in 2026?
UK startups raised approximately $17 billion in the first half of 2026 — the strongest opening half since 2022. AI companies took around $12.6 billion of that total, more than four times the same period in 2025. The UK took 39 percent of all European venture capital in H1 2026.
Where can I follow UK startup funding news?
Follow every UK startup funding round, company profile, and investment trend at BestStartup UK — updated every week across every British city and sector.
