Monzo has secured $500 million in fresh funding, taking its valuation to $4.5bn.
It marks an impressive turnaround at the digital bank, which has doubled its revenues in 2021 after two consecutive years of warnings around its ability to continue as a going concern.
COVID-19 initially damaged Monzo’s revenues as card payments fell during consecutive lockdowns. Its valuation fell to £1.25bn as recently as February.
However it now has 300,000 paying account holders among its five million-strong customer base. A quarter of its revenues are from new products launched during the pandemic such as business and premium accounts.
Monzo said around 100,000 customers are joining each month.
The funding round was led by Abu Dhabi Growth Fund, with new investors Coatue and Alpha Wave Ventures joining existing shareholders Accel and Goodwater.
“This investment means we’ll grow further and faster as we continue on our journey to reinvent banking, and become the one app that sits at the centre of our customers’ financial lives,” said CEO TS Anil.
Founded in 2015, Monzo lost £130m in 2020, an increase of 13% compared with 2019. Staff numbers this year are up 60% to 2,100.
Potential new product lines include buy-now-pay-later services and cryptocurrencies, according to the Financial Times.