The UK-based fintech company Monese is reportedly meeting with investors to raise funding to £100 million and close its valuation to £1 billion.
According to the company insiders, Monese is closing a deal with new and existing investors to raise their funding. If successful, the company will move to the unicorn status, joining Monzo and Revolut in UK’s most valuable fintech firms.
While chief executive Norris Koppel declined to comment on the funding negotiations, he mentioned that the company is receiving a lot of interest from the UK market.
Koppel said about 2 million customers signed up to use Monese’s banking services. The chief executive believes that this year, the number of users can reach 5 million.
“It took 42 months to get to 1 million customers and only eight months to reach today’s milestone. It’s clear another [investment] round has to happen. What we are intending to do with our next raise is raise enough capital to take us all the way through to profitability,” said Koppel.
Rapid Growth In Europe
Monese provides current accounts for customers and businesses in the UK, with emphasis on recent immigrants who don’t have credit histories. The company caters to individuals who are having a hard time to access traditional banks for creating savings and current accounts. Because it is app-based, anyone can easily sign up and create an account.
According to the Financial Times, the company doubled the number of customers in 2019, particularly in May and December. About 2 million users signed up to Monese, with massive growth in Europe, particularly in Paris and Berlin.
Monese was founded in 2013 and has accelerated growth over the years. In 2018, the company raised its first significant funding of $60 million from PayPal and British Airways.
