The Bluebox Blog

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Entrepreneur Series: Vivi Friedgut, Founder and leader at Blackbullion

Wednesday, 19 November 2025

We are thrilled to welcome Vivi Friedgut, founder and leader at Blackbullion, to our Entrepreneur Series. Blackbullion is reimagining how young people engage with financial education and wellbeing, partnering with universities and institutions to empower students with a money mindset, budgeting tools and financial resilience.

In this interview, we’ll explore Vivi’s journey: how she first formulated Blackbullion, the challenges and turning points along the way, and her vision for where financial education is going next….

 

What personal experiences or gaps in the market inspired you to start Blackbullion, and at what moment did you realise this was a venture worth pursuing full-time?

I was blessed to be raised by parents who firmly believe the financial education was a core part of my education as a kid.

I learnt about investing and cash flow and debt and interest rates around the dinner

It  became very clear very quickly that the majority of the people I knew hadn’t been raised in a similar way and people were always asking me questions – particularly about investing and pensions.

I was crazy passionate about the subject but most passions are only ever hobbies. It wasn’t until I left wealth management that I decided to see if the business had legs – I went in fully expecting it to fail…

Of course I am delighted that is not what ended up happening and Blackbullion was born and continues to go from strength to strength – over 400,000 students have come through the Blackbullion universe.

The mission of Blackbullion intersects education, personal finance and wellbeing. How do you define success both in business terms and in terms of impact on students?

Commercial success means strong, sustainable financial performance by growing a big business that has global reach where we can partner with thousands of universities, colleges and companies to reach millions and millions of students.
Having a real impact means knowing that we played a small role in helping those millions of students to be able to sleep well at night knowing they are building the financial lives that they wish.

Looking back to the early days, what were some of the biggest obstacles you faced in building credibility, engaging universities, or acquiring users? What lessons from those early challenges still guide you today?

The biggest obstacle by far was that I was trying to sell something and engage people on something that didn’t really exist!

Swimming in a blue ocean, which we are very good at as a company, is very exciting. Category creation is a wonderful thing but it is also an extraordinary challenge.

If you’re selling a cup then everybody knows what a cup means and you just need to explain why your cup is better than someone elses cup.

But if you are selling financial literacy, and financial well-being, then the first job is to educate people about what it is, and why it’s important, and why you should spend money on it.

I’m unbelievably proud that we created the language around this topic – we coined financial wellbeing (we produce an annual report on this) and also we were one of the first to show that  finance and mental health impact on each other and that you can’t tackle one without being mindful of the other.

The biggest lesson then, which remains the biggest lesson in life I believe, is that persistence and grit are the guiding lights to success.

If you can’t handle rejection (over and over and over again!) then this world is simply not one for you

What leadership practices have you found most effective (or difficult) in a fast-growing mission-driven startup?

The most important leadership practice is to hire great people and get out of their way.  Empowering my team has been by far the most effective growth strategy.

Evangelists are preferable to mercenaries so empowering our team and encouraging them to take radical ownership not just of their decisions but of the company is so powerful.

Every entrepreneur faces setbacks. Can you share an example of a significant setback or failure you experienced, how you responded, and what you learned?

We have faced so many setbacks that it’s hard to pick just one!

But it always comes back to money. Fundraising is incredibly difficult when you are building a category creating business that crosses over a few different sectors. we are not an education company and we are not a finance company and we are not a data company we in fact sit at the intersection.

It’s what makes us uniquely powerful as a company with the potential to become a £100m company but we have also found that most investors look for a story they can fit on the back of an envelope.

I have learned that as a founder you are constantly evolving and that the narrative of your business evolves too. Clarity is key.

Looking ahead, what’s your vision for the next 3–5 years for Black Bullion and for financial education more broadly?

I hope to be able to continue to grow and develop Blackbullion and become the dominant financial well-being and data intelligence platform for Gen Z on a global scale

What advice would you give to aspiring founders (especially in edtech/fintech) trying to build with purpose?

If you want to build with purpose make sure your purpose sits on top of a solid business plan with solid and predictable and growing revenue streams.

Purpose without profit is incredibly difficult to maintain. When you have independent revenue you can make decisions that align with the values of the business. If you are relying on external funding then it is almost inevitable that at some point your values and your need for cash will clash

 

Quick Fire Questions

What’s at the top of your bucket list?

Going to Antarctica.

If you could instantly acquire one new skill, what would it be?

Patience.

Where’s your favourite place you’ve ever visited?

I love Sydney because that’s where my family is.

If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be and why?

I’m fascinated by politics and diplomacy and Henry Kissinger effectively invented shuttle diplomacy and was able to hold a dozen truths and a dozen conflicting national objectives in his hand and somehow negotiate peaceful resolutions… I’d love to pick his brain over a steak.

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