Curve, a London-based fintech platform offering a financial super app, that connects all your existing credit and debit cards, has raised an additional £58 million extension of its Series C round. This brings the total investment raised in the Series C round to over £133 million. This investment follows the company’s recent app launch, which includes a marketplace of financial applets.
The extension round came from Britannia, IDC Ventures, Cercano Management (the venture arm of Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen’s estate), Cohen Circle, Outward VC (that backed Orbital Witness and Oneday) and other existing shareholders.
To date, Curve has raised £208 million in equity investment. The fresh funds will be used to improve Curve’s overall customer experience, expand its Flex offerings, and bring exciting new partnerships to the market.
“We are extremely pleased with the interest we received in our Series C extension round and the support we received from our existing shareholders,” said Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve. “It’s a testament of the execution of our team, the strength of our product, and business as a whole. This last raise, like any raise, brings with it renewed responsibility to our shareholders and our customers; To build a good product and an exciting business, by executing well. Curve’s unique, user-friendly and innovative product is something that investors, partners and customers alike are drawn to naturally, and with this additional cash, we look forward to bringing more people closer to financial independence.”
Bobby Aitkenhead, co-founder and Managing Director at IDC Ventures, said, “Thanks to their unique technology and Layer 3 (OTT) approach, they have the capability to intercept the transaction and supercharge the customer experience, with its Double Dip Rewards, or eliminating nasty hidden fees. And they do it seamlessly, without any need for the customer to change the cards they pay with. This in turn gives Curve 360 view of the customer finance, a wealth of data which allows Curve to offer superior, personalised experience for customers, coupled with a strong business model. As they’ve proven in the past 12 months. Our conviction in Curve grew substantially upon witnessing the remarkable capabilities and proven history of its founder and the team he built around him.”
“We’re so excited about Curve and its potential to be a payments super app, as well as its ability to change the way consumers treat their cards and credit as part of a holistic payment methodology. It continues to build and provide its users with great value,” added Daniel Cohen, Co-Founder, Cohen Circle.
Future plans of Curve
In addition to the investment, Curve has teased a major partnership with a payments giant, but they remain tight-lipped until the announcement is made public later this month. Also, Curve is in the midst of rolling out its new Launchpad interface, which paves the path for the development of a financial marketplace. This will allow select third-party developers to integrate their financial products and services directly into Curve.
‘Netflix of Banking’
Founded by Shachar Bialick in 2015, Curve is on a mission to be the one-stop shop for all the consumer’s financial needs. Curve doesn’t replace your existing bank accounts but it is a cloud-based platform that runs “over-the-top” of existing banking and payments infrastructure.
It is a single point of access to a wide range of financial products and services, bundling together all your money into one smart card and an even smarter app. Unlike other services available in the market today, Curve allows customers to connect and supercharge their legacy banks without signing up to a new bank.
With Curve, customers have full freedom over their money, eliminating expensive hidden currency conversion fees that banks would otherwise charge them. It also provides a complete financial picture, enabling better budgeting and maximising rewards without a second thought.
One of its useful features is Curve Flex, a unique rival to Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) offering approved by FCA. It offers customers the power to pay later for almost any purchase made at any merchant, from any card, up to a year.
Currently, Curve operates in 31 markets in the UK and Europe. The company has entered into partnerships with Samsung, Mastercard, Huawei, Swatch and many other brands.
