Revolut becomes UK’s most valuable fintech after bumper funding round

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The UK is at risk of becoming an “incubator economy” with tech firms moving abroad, if action is not taken to support companies to scale up, a group of Lords has warned.
The UK is at risk of becoming an “incubator economy” with tech firms moving abroad, if action is not taken to support companies to scale up, a group of Lords has warned.

Challenger bank Revolut has become the UK’s most valuable fintech company after seeing its valuation surge to $33bn (£24bn) following a fresh funding round.

The British fintech favourite has secured $800m in new funding in a round led by Softbank’s Vision Fund and Tiger Global Management.

It makes Revolut one of the most valuable fintechs ever launched in Europe and pushes its valuation slightly higher than high street bank Natwest.

The cash boost also marks a huge step up in valuation for the company, which was last valued at $5.5bn following a series D funding round last summer.

It also surpasses the $10bn valuation that shareholders had been expecting after Revolut hired US-based investment bank FT Partners to advise on an equity raise back in April.

Revolut, which was founded in 2015 by former Credit Suisse trader Nik Storonsky and software developer Vladyslav Yatsenko, has attracted more than 16m customers with products including foreign exchange, debit cards and stock trading.

The London-based company has won customers by undercutting mainstream banks’ rates for currency exchange and other products including cryptocurrency investments.

It has yet to translate that rapid growth into profitability, however, with its annual losses doubling last financial year on investment in risk controls.

Revolut said the new funding will be used to help product development and marketing in new areas of expansion, particularly the US and India.

Chief financial officer Mikko Salovaara said the fundraising would not affect the timetable for any potential listing of Revolut, adding: “We think eventually we will be a public company but have no immediate plans to list.”

The funding will come as yet another boost to Britain’s thriving tech scene. It follows the successful initial public offering of payments firm Wise, which last week was valued at £8bn in London’s largest ever tech float.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak welcomed the funding round, saying: “We want to see even more great British fintech success stories like Revolut.”