Curve opens US office as embattled startup heads across the Atlantic
London fintech startup Curve has today revealed its first US office, as it opens up shop in Brooklyn, New York as a base for its Stateside operations.
The move follows a spate of negative reports about the card management firm, including allegations of misrepresenting user data and editing its own Wikipedia page to hide controversies.
Curve, which offers users the ability to spend from multiple bank accounts using a single debit card, said it had selected Brooklyn because of its access to talent in the payments technology sector and growing startup scene.
The firm plans to create 185 new jobs in the US by 2024, and invest nearly $17m (£13.2m) in research and development over the next decade. It will receive up to $8.3m in tax incentives in exchange for the plans, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The startup added it had appointed Amanda Orson, an adviser to one of its investors Gauss Ventures, as vice president of North America to lead the charge.
A report in November alleged only 14 per cent of Curve’s customers were using its app at least once a month, a statistic which Curve later said was inaccurate.
Leaked documents to Business Insider suggested out of Curve’s 500,000 sign-ups, only 72,000 of those customers were regularly using its services. In an interview with the Telegraph, Curve chief executive Shachar Bialick later accused the media of spreading “lies”, adding that the number was closer to 80 per cent.
The startup was also accused last week of changing its Wikipedia page to remove mentions of the report. Curve said that the changes adhered “to Wikipedia’s strict conflict of interest guidelines”.
“In the race to own the consumer relationship, Curve is building the perfect product for the US market at just the right time,” said Orson.
“I am honoured to join the team and lead Curve’s product expansion in the United States and be able to start this adventure from the world’s premier financial hub, recruiting from a pool of the best tech talent in the world.”