# Christian Owens

> Christian Owens is a British entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Clove, following more than a decade building Paddle with Harrison Rose. He left school at 16 after an early Mac software promotion business, co-founded Paddle in 2012, and led it through its 2022 financing at a $1.4 billion valuation before handing over the CEO role in April 2023. In 2025 he co-founded Clove with Alex Loizou to combine human financial advice with AI that reduces administrative work.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Clove
- **Organizations:** Clove, Paddle, Mac Bundle Box, The Dream Network, Branchr Advertising
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** Brooke Weston
- **Known for:** Co-founded Paddle and led it to a $1.4 billion financing valuation in 2022., Received a Thiel Fellowship in 2016., Led Paddle during its acquisition of subscription analytics and retention business ProfitWell.

## Career timeline

- **2000s** — Learned web development as a teenager and built websites for local businesses before selling Mac software bundles.
- **Age 16** — Left school to focus on his businesses.
- **2010** — Appointed director of The Dream Network on 29 June.
- **2012** — Co-founded Paddle with Harrison Rose; appointed a Paddle director in August.
- **2016** — Awarded a Thiel Fellowship; Paddle announced a $3.2 million Series A led by BGF Ventures.
- **2022** — Paddle announced $200 million in Series D financing at a $1.4 billion valuation and acquired ProfitWell in a deal valued at more than $200 million in cash and equity.
- **2023** — Handed the CEO role to Jimmy Fitzgerald on 20 April and became executive chairman.
- **2024** — Resigned as a Paddle director on 18 April; the company subsequently described him as a board observer.
- **2025** — Co-founded Clove with Alex Loizou and announced a $14 million pre-seed round led by Accel in October.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Paddle and led it to a $1.4 billion financing valuation in 2022.
- Received a Thiel Fellowship in 2016.
- Led Paddle during its acquisition of subscription analytics and retention business ProfitWell.
- Co-founded Clove, which announced $14 million in pre-seed funding in October 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Research snapshot: Clove’s live website invites waitlist registrations and states that it is not yet FCA authorised; Owens’s public profile identifies him with Clove.
- **2025-12** — Appeared on the Basis Points podcast to discuss leaving Paddle and starting Clove.
- **2025-10** — Announced Clove and its $14 million (£10 million) pre-seed financing led by Accel, with Kindred and Air Street participating.
- **2025-06** — Paddle agreed to a $5 million FTC settlement concerning alleged payment-processing practices and deceptive tech-support schemes; Paddle issued its own response.

## Links

- Website: https://www.clove.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianowens/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/christianbowens
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianowens/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/christian-owens
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22