Timothy Armoo

Armoo was born in Hackney, London, and grew up on a housing estate. He has said that as a child he wanted to be a magician, later a journalist and then a behavioural economist, the common thread being a wish to do something that directly influenced people.⁠[1][1][1]

He studied computer science at Warwick University.⁠[1][2]

Armoo’s first company, EntrepreneurXpress, was sold when he was seventeen.⁠[3]

In 2017, while at university, Armoo co-founded the social media advertising company Fanbytes, which blended influencer marketing with traditional advertising to help brands such as Nike, Samsung, and Deliveroo reach a Generation Z audience; the platform used data from social media platforms including SnapchatSnapchatA visual messaging and social app developed by Snap Inc., launched in 2011, with photo and video messaging, Stories, augmented-reality Lenses, Snap Map and Spotlight.Open the full entry, Instagram, and TikTok to match brands with influencers.⁠[1][2][1]

He has said the idea came from watching a US company doing influencer marketing well and deciding to bring the model to the UK and focus it on Generation Z; he describes himself as never having started an original idea, instead matching models that have already worked elsewhere to different audiences.⁠[1][1]

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Fanbytes grew from 27 to 57 employees and worked on campaigns including the UK government’s Covid messaging. In 2020 the company launched a fund to support Black businesses and creators; the £250,000 Fanbytes Fund financed influencer campaigns for Black-owned companies.⁠[2][3][3]

In 2021, Armoo was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in the Media & Marketing category as founder of Fanbytes.⁠[2][2]

In 2022, the digital marketing agency Brainlabs acquired Fanbytes in an eight-figure deal, and Armoo left the company the same year. After the acquisition, Fanbytes powered Brainlabs’ global influencer marketing offering.⁠[1][3][1]

On July 30, 2023, The Venture Room released a street-interview video filmed in London in which Armoo was one of the interviewees. He said he had started Fanbytes five and a half years earlier, built it to about 80 people, and sold it the previous year; he said in the interview that the sale price was in the tens of millions of pounds but that the exact figure had not been made public.⁠[4][4]

He argued that a business simply connecting brands with influencers was already very saturated, and that the bigger opportunity lay in becoming an influencer oneself or in AI influencers.⁠[4][4]

After leaving Fanbytes, Armoo built a following of nearly half a million across his social platforms and took part in entrepreneurship campaigns and public speaking events as a start-up advisor. He has said that what he genuinely enjoys is the “game” of business, and that what interests him most are exits such as an acquisition or a public listing.⁠[1][1][1]

On July 13, 2025, The Venture Room released a compilation of street interviews that included an interview with Armoo. He said he now builds and sells companies and that the biggest opportunity for 2025 to 2027 was helping businesses implement AI in their workflows; he said Fanbytes had not been the best influencer marketing company in the UK, but because the whole market was growing, everyone in it benefited.⁠[5][5][5][5][5]

“Money is not a function of how hard you work; it’s about how much value you create.” He gave the example of two people running the same marketing business, where serving only wealthier clients who better understand the value lets one earn more in the same time. (at 12:24 in the 2025 video)⁠[5][5]

“Deeply understand delayed gratification.” He argued that if you keep doing something for long enough and keep learning from previous attempts, ruling out what does not work, you are left with what does. (at 12:51 in the 2025 video)⁠[5][5]

“Copy existing businesses that have discovered billion-dollar markets and put your own spin on them.” He cited Fanbytes, which took the US influencer marketing wave to the UK and focused it on Generation Z. (at 14:16 in the 2025 video)⁠[5][5]

“With less than about £25,000, first go and work under the kind of person you want to become, ideally as a sales rep.” He said he regretted not working for someone else before starting his company, having wasted a lot of time and money learning things by himself. (at 14:22 in the 2023 video)⁠[4][4]

“Anything you are trying to do takes a long time.” He said he had expected to sell his company within two years, but it took longer. (at 14:54 in the 2023 video)⁠[4][4]