Zara Ransley

Co-Founder, MyPocketSkill

Zara Ransley is a founder of MyPocketSkill, an award-winning evidence-based Gen Z platform for financial education, which enables young people, aged 13-25 to earn, save, invest and learn about money with the help of behavioural science.

Zara set up MyPocketSkill with her co-founder, Matthew Harker, and it is rooted in the work they have done with UK and European government and government entities on youth policy, including work for Money and Pensions Services on ‘what makes children and young people more financially capable’ as well as ‘Youth Wiki’ when they represented the UK on youth policy to the EU, as part of their work for the Department of Media, Culture and Sport, benchmarking UK policy to other countries in Europe. 

Now the platform has a 0.25 million-strong community in the UK and works in partnership with the likes of Lloyds Banking Group and the BBC. Zara has a long-standing passion for entrepreneurship, she holds a Women in Innovation award, given by the UK minister of Science, and in the past was involved with a number of organisations, including Youth Business International and Young Enterprise. Zara has spent over 15 years working in the City of London, as an investment analyst, and holds an MBA from London Business School and she is also an entrepreneur mentor-in-residence at LBS and the Summer Entrepreneurship School.

Why do you support the work of The Entrepreneurs Network?

I am a huge believer in what The Entrepreneurs Network is doing as it acts as a bridge between policy and entrepreneurship. I am particularly interested in work focused on solving huge structural problems, including on social mobility, opportunities for young people, particularly now in the age of AI.

What research should more people be reading?

In addition to The Entrepreneurs Network’s research, I recommend following the World Economic Forum, the newly formed AI Security Institute and the Financial Times as well as research produced by leading academic institutions, including London Business School, as well as the advances (and seminars) published by the Nobel Prize, including on economic sciences.

Why is the UK an attractive place to grow a business?

The UK (and London) are uniquely excellent place to start a business. Legal and tax frameworks are helpful, as are the language and time zone, access to talent and top academic institutions and it is a melting pot of cultures and nationalities.