Hayat Amin is a tech CFO and strategist and AI agent operator with twenty years inside high-growth technology. He has been on the operator side of three exits (including to American Express and TripAdvisor) and put three businesses on the Financial Times FT100 fastest-growing list. He operates fractionally across New York, London, and Dubai.

Where is Hayat Amin based?

Hayat Amin operates from three cities: New York, London, and Dubai. Engagements are remote-first with quarterly on-site weeks scheduled around the client's board cycle.

What does Hayat Amin do?

Hayat Amin runs two services fractionally: the tech CFO and strategist function during fundraises and exits, which includes IP and data strategy that prices intangibles and turns them into revenue; and AI agent operations that embed processes, automations, AI agents, agentic workflows, and real-time reporting into the business with measurable P&L impact.

How is Hayat Amin different from other fractional CFOs?

Most fractional CFOs are accountants with a senior title. Hayat Amin is an operator who has sat in the buyer's seat on three exits. The data-room build, diligence Q&A responses, and valuation defence look like what an acquirer expects to see. That gap is usually worth 15 to 30% of exit multiple.

How do I contact Hayat Amin?

Email hayat@beyondelevation.com or book a call at https://www.meethayat.com/contact/. Most outreach gets a response within 24 hours.

Hayat Amin: Exit Specialist, Tech CFO & IP Strategist

Exit specialist. Three-time exited CFO.

Hayat Amin, exit specialist and three-time exited tech CFO

Exit specialist · 3 companies sold

Name: Hayat Amin
Cities: New York · London
Profession: Exit specialist & tech CFO
Exits: Amex · TripAdvisor · Cooper Parry

Three exits to learn what a buyer actually pays for.

Exits

FT100

3×

Years

Avg y/y

300%

A CFO who has sold three companies. 20 years in high-growth tech. Buyers include American Express, TripAdvisor and Cooper Parry. 3 FT100 listings.

A founder sells a company once. Hayat has been the finance lead in the room three times, and the difference is not theory, it is knowing what the buyer is going to ask on day fourteen of diligence and having the answer already sitting in the data room.

The second half of the job is the part most companies leave on the table. Patents, datasets, models and licensing rights get bundled into a revenue multiple and handed over for nothing. Hayat prices them separately, evidences them, and writes them into the story the acquirer is paying for.

¶ The unfair operator

The three pillars that make
Hayat Amin an unfair operator.

Exit specialist.

Three companies sold. Hayat sits beside the founder from the first conversation to the wire transfer.

Most founders sell a company once. Hayat has done it three times, as the finance lead in the room, with buyers including American Express, TripAdvisor and Cooper Parry. He builds the company to be bought long before it goes to market, then runs the process day to day so the founder is never on their own in it. Diligence is prepared for, not survived.

Outcomes companies receive

01Exit strategy built from day one, run like the acquirer is already watching

02Sell-side readiness: clean numbers, clean cap table, clean contracts

03The equity story and EBITDA forecast the acquirer will actually underwrite

04Data room built and maintained, so diligence has nothing to attack

05Buyer list, teasers and approach strategy, strategic and financial

06Sat next to the founder through diligence, Q&A and every buyer call

07Negotiation support on price, structure, earn-out and working capital

08Post-LOI project management, keeping the deal from dying in the detail

09Integration and earn-out planning so value survives the close

IP and data valuation.

Turning what a company already owns into a materially higher price.

Most companies are sold on a revenue multiple and give the IP and the data away for free inside it. Hayat prices the assets separately. Patents, proprietary datasets, models and licensing rights get valued, evidenced and written into the story the buyer is paying for. Same company, same revenue, different number on the term sheet.

Outcomes companies receive

01Patent portfolio strategy and valuation, built for the buyer's model

02Proprietary data valued as an asset, not a by-product

03Royalty rates and licensing terms re-priced on evidence

04Repositioning a dataset from low-value use to enterprise licensing

05IP ownership, chain of title and freedom-to-operate cleaned up pre-sale

06Defensible valuation narrative the acquirer's advisors can test

07New revenue lines from licensing assets already sitting on the balance sheet

08IP and data risk removed before it becomes a price chip in diligence

09The intangible half of the company made visible and priced

Tech CFO and strategist.

20 years as a CFO in tech. Finance lead, strategist and hands-on operator in one hire.

Hayat runs the money and the growth plan underneath the exit. Financial model, investor story, reporting and controls, built to the standard a buyer expects to find rather than rebuilt in a panic six weeks before an LOI.

Outcomes companies receive

01Run scalable, modern financial operations

02Best-in-class financial models, dashboards & forecasts

03Fundraises that actually close: VC, PE, angels

04M&A technicals and exit due diligence

05Investor narrative, decks, teasers & data rooms

06Pricing, GTM, sales intelligence & investor FOMO

07Board & C-suite strategy: KPIs, targets and accountability

08AI put to work inside finance and operations where it pays

09The acquirer's questions answered before they are asked

What Hayat has actually done
or been part of.

01CFO · Fintech

Cake → American Express

EXITED

Transaction-heavy fintech infrastructure. CFO from very early stage. The diligence team had nothing to attack.

↗

02Head of Finance · Travel-tech

Tripbod → TripAdvisor

EXITED

Travel-tech platform built around a mine of proprietary data. Hayat ran finance through to acquisition.

↗

03Portfolio Finance Director · Accountancy

iHorizon → Cooper Parry

EXITED

Pioneer in accounting, taxation and advisory for hyper-growth tech in the UK & US. 10× growth since Hayat joined. UK's largest tech-focused accountancy.

↗

04CFO · RF software

DGS (Washington DC unicorn)

Next-gen software platform characterising the radio-frequency environment. Hayat served as CFO and helped DGS build and execute the strategy around their patent portfolio. Exit talks ongoing.

↗

05CSO · Grants platform

Grantify (FT100 #46)

SECONDARIES

One of the largest grant platforms in the world. 66% of all successful UK grants run through it. Hayat led data valuation, fundraise, strategy, and partnerships.

↗

06CSO · Consumer data

Nxtech (18.5B data points)

85% of the US population. Hayat led data monetisation, valuation, fundraise, and reporting, repositioning the asset from ad-targeting to enterprise licensing.

↗

07President of IP · Logistic tech

Position Imaging

Has raised around $150m building some of the most exciting and important technology for anything that moves.

↗

08Biotech · Health

Thriva (FT100 #3)

Third fastest-growing company in Europe. Biotech category leader.

↗

09DTC · Hi-tech apparel

L'estrange (FT100 #94)

94th fastest-growing company in Europe. Hi-tech apparel built for the modern operator.

↗

What CEOs say about Hayat.

“
Hayat was our fractional CSO and a key part of our Secondary round, data strategy and overall growth, becoming the 46th fastest-growing company of 2024.
Mat WestergreenFounder & CEO, Grantify

“
Fantastic. Very diligent, very reliable, methodical, suggesting and implementing efficient processes and monthly reports.
William GreenCEO, L'estrange

“
For a $30m finance round here in the US, we needed a CFO who was strategic but hands on. Hayat Amin to the rescue.
Carl SteinmannFounder, Acresclub

“
Hayat brings expertise and flair to corporate financial management.
Rob WithagenCEO, Asoko Insight

“
Hayat has been a critical part of our fundraising and day-to-day strategy.
Babacar DialloCEO, Oolu Solar

“
Hayat is an innovative financial leader. Scalable solutions and a real leader for our financial arm.
Dan MollerCOO, Vinaya Technology

Exit specialist. Three-time exited CFO.

Three exits to learn what a buyer actually pays for.