Chelsea Thomson
Head of Strategic Finance @Upvest
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WORK HISTORY
Head of Strategic Finance @Upvest
Berlin, DE
Driving financial strategy and organisational scale for Europe’s leading investment API, serving as a key partner to the Board and Executive team through hypergrowth and our successful Series C extension- Fundraising & Strategy: Drove the financial narrative and budgeting for our Series C extension; manages investor financial due diligence and models the long-term roadmap to secure capital- Operational Excellence: Scaling the Abacum implementation to automate reporting and forecasting, enabling company-wide self-service data and driving significant efficiency gains across the organisation- Leadership: Leads a multidisciplinary team across planning, commercial analysis, and decision support; collaborates with the Risk team to optimise regulatory capital and runway- High-Stakes Reporting: Delivers data-driven insights and performance analysis directly to Executive Management, Investors, and the Board, translating complex models into actionable growth strategies.
EDUCATION
Herschel Girls' School
High School, South African National Senior Certificate
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Summer School Program, Finance: options, futures and other financial derivatives
University of Cape Town
Bachelor’s Degree, Finance and Accounting
University of Cape Town
Master of Commerce, Financial Reporting, Analysis and Governance
University of Cape Town
Honours Degree, Finance and Accounting
ABOUT CHELSEA THOMSON
Registered Chartered Accountant (South Africa), equivalent to the German Wirtschaftsprüfer, and CFA® Charterholder with extensive transaction, audit, and strategic finance experience across fintech, financial services, and insurance sectors.Currently serving as Head of Strategic Finance at Upvest, leading FP & A operations and financial modeling in a hypergrowth fintech environment. Specialised expertise in Financial Reporting (IFRS and GAAP), M&A due diligence, investor relations, and strategic business partnering.Bachelors and Masters degree in Accounting with additional certifications in ESG Investing and pursuing Financial Modelling and Valuation Analyst designation.South African citizen based in Munich, Germany. Multilingual with fluency in English and full German working proficiency (Goethe-Zertifikat C1).
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