London-based Banking as a Service (BaaS) startup, Griffin, has scored $15.5 million in funding. The investment round was led by SaaS heavyweight Notion Capital. Also, the round saw participation from existing investor EQT Ventures (which invested in Cleo, Dott and Nothing)and fintech angels, including William Hockey, co-founder of Plaid and founder and co-CEO of Column, Nilan Peiris, VP of Growth at Wise, Rob Straathof, CEO at Liberis and Shane Happach, CEO of Mollie and ex CCO Worldpay.
API-first banking platform
To date, Griffin has raised $27 million of funding. Since the previous funding round in November 2020, Griffin has tripled in size and begun commercialising its platform.
The fresh funds will be used to grow the leadership and operational teams and to build an API-first banking platform that brings the power of self-service software to the financial services industry.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Notion Capital and to have someone of Stephen’s calibre join our board. His experience fits perfectly with our vision to blend the worlds of banking and technology in one powerful platform,” said David Jarvis, Griffin CEO and co-founder. “With this injection of funding, we can continue to innovate, scale our business, and focus on building the best banking platform possible.”
“The financial services industry has not kept pace with consumer trends and tech innovation, creating demand for a developer-friendly bank built on modern APIs and intuitive software,” Tom Mendoza, EQT Ventures partner and Griffin board member added. “Griffin aims to challenge the status quo by offering a full-stack banking platform that will make it fast, simple, and cost-effective for brands to launch financial products. This influx of capital will drive the next phase of the company’s ambitious journey.”
Adds new member to its board
Besides the investment, Griffin has appointed Notion Capital co-founder and managing partner, Stephen Chandler to its board of directors. Chandler’s previous investments include fintech unicorns GoCardless and Paddle and he brings a wealth of industry knowledge and operating experience in both banking and software.
“SaaS is finally eating the financial services sector the way it has every other industry, and Griffin will empower fintechs to build and launch financial products with a single secure and modern SaaS platform,” Stephen Chandler, Managing Partner at Notion Capital said. “I’m thrilled to support the team as they rewrite the way companies interact with banks and accelerate growth.”
Focuses on innovative fintechs
Griffin was founded by Silicon Valley engineers David Jarvis (ex-Airbnb) and Allen Rohner (who co-founded tech unicorn CircleCI) in 2017. It is building a full-stack vertically integrated BaaS platform, powered by modern user-friendly technology.
The company’s vision is to be a stable, long-term banking partner for innovative fintechs who often struggle with long, expensive onboarding processes and integration with legacy tech at established banks.
With its API-first, full-stack Banking as a Service platform, Griffin lets companies focus on building products for their customers. It frees them from managing back-end infrastructure and compliance operations.
Recently, the company submitted its application to the PRA and the FCA to become an authorised bank.
