Amazing AI plc , listed on the Aquis Exchange under the ticker AAI, is hardly your typical small-cap fintech. Led by seasoned financier Paul Mathieson, the company is seeking to blend the hard graft of regulated consumer lending with the promise of artificial intelligence and the volatility-defying potential of a crypto treasury.
Mathieson himself is central to the story. With more than three decades in finance, his career spans investment banking at Daiwa Securities and ING Barings, research leadership at Hogan & Partners, and entrepreneurial ventures in both Australia and the United States. He founded Mr Amazing Loans in the US, building a 15-year track record of lending under the demanding scrutiny of state licensing and consumer credit regulation. That experience, he argues, gives Amazing AI a crucial edge: “We are not a start-up chasing headlines — we are a regulated operator with compliance and collections embedded in our DNA.”
The company’s model is deliberately two-pronged. Its US consumer lending arm provides a stable, regulated base with established revenues. On top of that sits a newly formed international services business, Amazing AI Services Ltd, incorporated in Mauritius. From this hub the group intends to sell AI-driven risk and collections technology into high-growth emerging markets such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and India. By providing software and decisioning tools rather than loans themselves, AAI avoids the capital intensity and licensing burden of local lending, while tapping into enormous demand for digital credit solutions.
The strategy is underpinned by Mathieson’s conviction that artificial intelligence can materially improve outcomes in credit underwriting, collections, and even deception detection. His recent hiring of senior executives with backgrounds at Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, and Starling Bank suggests he is intent on building credible capability, not
simply chasing a buzzword.
Then there is the crypto angle. In September the board approved an update to its Crypto Treasury Policy, broadening its reserves from Bitcoin alone to a basket of five leading digital assets, including Ethereum. The move, coupled with the appointment of BitGo as custodian, is presented not as speculation but as long-term treasury management. Mathieson insists the policy is designed to “provide greater upside whilst insulating Amazing AI from downside exposure” through diversification and AI-assisted risk monitoring. Whether investors share that view remains to be seen, though the company points to stringent criteria: only large-cap, liquid assets with established trading histories and fiat currency pairs will be eligible.
Financing this growth remains a key question. The company has recently raised just over £1m through an oversubscribed accelerated bookbuild and broker option, funds earmarked for the crypto treasury and working capital. With Mathieson as the largest shareholder — converting debt into equity and participating in raises at premium valuations — investor
alignment is arguably stronger than many peers in the small-cap fintech sector.
For shareholders, the next 12 to 24 months will be critical. Delivering early revenues from the Mauritius platform, successfully building its diversified crypto basket, and sustaining growth in the US loan book will be the milestones against which Amazing AI is judged.
In an environment where fintech hopefuls often lack either regulation or substance, Amazing AI is attempting to stand out by combining both. With Paul Mathieson’s track record and evident financial skin in the game, the company offers an intriguing, if unconventional, proposition for investors willing to accept both the opportunities and the risks of this hybrid
model.