Name: Ren Yi Hooi
Company: Lightning Reach
Position: Founder and CEO
Website: https://www.lightningreach.org/
About Ren Yi Hooi
Lightning Reach is a tech for good startup which has made an impact at scale, enabling individuals in financial need to secure over £17m in support. It was founded during the covid-19 pandemic by Fintech leader Ren Yi Hooi, who has been recognised as one of the Big Issue 100 Changemakers and NatWest WISE100 top women in social enterprise.
With over 20 million people in financially vulnerable circumstances across the UK, the Lightning Reach portal tackles the issue by facilitating access to a wide range of personalised support including charitable grants, help with bills and other resources. Since its initial launch 3 years ago, Lightning Reach has reached more than 170,000 registered users and partners with more than 50 charities, local authorities, housing associations and corporations including the Royal British Legion, TSB and Lambeth Council.
Lightning Reach has raised more than £1.7m in funding from investors including Techstars, Big Issue Invest, Angel Invest and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, as well as grants from Innovate UK and Nesta. Their award-winning work has been recognised across national media including The Guardian, The Sun and MoneySavingExpert. They aim to help over 1 million people in the next 5 years, by expanding their partnerships with a wide range of organisations.
As a solo founder, Ren immigrated to the UK in 2019 with the Global Talent Visa endorsed by Tech Nation, and led the product team at FinTech scaleup Railsr before starting Lightning Reach. She was in the Women in FinTech Powerlist by Innovate Finance, served as a mentor for the FCA and was invited to speak at multiple APPG groups. Passionate about driving social impact through technology, she has also supported underserved communities across Asia and Africa through her work at BIMA, Bain and The Rockefeller Foundation. Ren holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from UC Berkeley.
