Digital bank Monzo is reportedly expanding its fundraising to £500 million as part of a round that includes capital, reported Sky News. Sources revealed that Monzo might confirm and Hedosophia, an early growth investor in Airbnb and Uber, and Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation (GIC) are said to be participating in an overall fundraising.
The substantial investment round makes it one of the biggest ever achieved by a UK tech firm. One insider said that GIC was investing over £50 million, with Hedosophia also committing tens of millions of pounds. Notably, the latter has invested in popular tech companies, including Wise, a London-based money transfer business, and Marshmallow, an insurance group.
This funding will add to the recent $430 million raised from CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth GV (Google Ventures) and HSG (HongShan Capital), and existing backers Passion Capital and Tencent. Notably, this round increased the company’s valuation to $5 billion.
Before this, Monzo had received $500 million in funding at a $4.5 billion valuation back in 2021.
All-in-one finance platform
Monzo was founded by Tom Blomfield, Paul Rippon, Gary Dolman, Jonas Huckestein, and Jason Bates in 2015. Initially launched as a prepaid card that lets customers open an account for free online, receive spending notifications in real-time, and manage their finances, the London fintech has grown into a full-fledged platform offering social features, premium accounts with additional perks and tools, virtual account creation and management tools, money management features, and more.
Monzo has over 9 million retail customers, of which 2 million joined in 2023 alone. Also, it bags over 400,000 business customers. This growth comes came alongside its growth in review by over two-fold in the last financial year.
After a challenging post-COVID market, the Fintech firm has managed to bounce back by introducing new features. The London fintech unicorn has also rolled out many new features for its users. In 2023, it launched Instant Access Savings and Monzo Investments, Cashback, Mortgage Tracker, and the industry-first Call Status fraud prevention tool. Previously, it launched Monzo Flex, which is a buy now, pay later feature.
Monzo is now profitable and in a recent interview, its CEO TS Anil said it had pulled away from challenger rivals like Starling and Revolut.
