Christer Holloman

GRIT AND INGENUITY. Christer Holloman has always recognized the value of hard work. Raised by a single mother in northern Sweden, he vividly recalls his first paid job at ten, managing shopping trolleys in a car park for $1 an hour. “If I wanted something, I had to work for it myself,” he reflects. Demonstrating his entrepreneurial spirit early on, he rented himself out as a Santa Claus at 13, charging $6 an hour, and at 18, successfully launched an online community for local restaurants and taxi services. He describes it jokingly as “OpenTable before OpenTable, Uber before Uber.”

Christer’s creative spirit initially led him to want to pursue a career in marketing and advertising. However, an early mentor advised him to focus on the business side of advertising, shaping his career path. An internship at the Swedish Chamber of Commerce took him to London, where a year-long stint turned into 19 years of professional growth. Christer began his career in newspaper companies, first joining CareerBuilder, owned by a group of US newspapers, and later working for The Times, and Daily Mail. His roles involved identifying business opportunities related to online classifieds, which paved the way for a career pivot to tech startups, becoming the first hire outside the U.S. for Glassdoor.com.

While pursuing an MBA at the University of Oxford, Christer’s thesis project became the foundation for Divido, his first fintech startup. Inspired by Klarna’s success in Sweden, Christer and his business partners initially aimed to replicate the model in the UK. However, they quickly realized a major hurdle. “We didn’t know anything about lending at that time,” Christer explains. Instead, they developed a unique solution: a white-label platform for buy now, pay later services, partnering with banks to underwrite the loans. This innovative approach allowed Divido to scale rapidly, attracting significant investment and high-profile clients. Having mentored multiple fintechs over the years, he decided to share his key learnings from the industry by writing a book, How Banks Innovate, published by Wiley in 2021.

Having come out as gay in his late teens, Christer kept his personal and professional identities separate for much of his career. However, as Divido grew, he began to focus on creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace. His efforts paid off, with candidates becoming specifically drawn to Divido because of its inclusive culture. “That’s when I started being more vocal and using my company as a platform to do whatever little I could to bring about some positive change in the community.” Christer has also been giving back by investing in 40+ startups over the years, including European fintechs like Qomodo, Gilion, and SuperFi.

A NEW FRONTIER. In 2021, Christer had a successful exit from Divido, having scaled the company to 10 countries and raised $50 million from investors like American Express and Sony. He then moved to New York, where he was invited by HSBC to become their first entrepreneur-in-residence. This role inspired Christer’s new venture, Credential, a sustainable finance platform. Credential aims to streamline B2B lending, using AI and alternative data to advance green grants, incentives, and tax credits to small businesses. “Credential’s vision is to finance the removal of 250 million tons of carbon emissions by 2030,” Christer explains. The venture has already been selected to join Techstars by J.P. Morgan.

Christer’s advice for aspiring LGBTQIA+ founders is to stop thinking and start doing. “You have to start by speaking to customers,” he emphasizes. “If you can’t convince them in your imaginary world where everything is perfect, they’re never going to pay for it, even when you do build it. Also, don’t be afraid of shutting it down. Not every idea will be great forever, and recognizing when to move on is crucial.”

Despite the demanding nature of his work, Christer finds joy in the diversity and inclusivity he champions. “It made the workplace more fun, more real,” he says, reflecting on his efforts to build a diverse team at Divido. “Lean into your identity rather than hide it. Make it an asset that makes you stand out.”