A smart savings app has broken the record for Crowdcube’s most participated-in crowdfund.
Chip has raised £7.3 million, with £3.8m crowdfunded by its customers and the remainder coming from angel investors.
The company has also brought in a number of industry veterans and experts to help drive Chip’s growth.
Last year Chip broke UK crowdfunding records with a £4m raise but its latest round attracted 7,182 investors, a record on Crowdcube. It has reached more than 10,000 investors in total, becoming one of the UK’s most crowdfunded businesses.
The company initially offered £1m to existing investors, and after funding exceeded £1m in just 54 minutes, Chip opened up the remaining allocation to their customers.
The funding will be used to launch an in-app marketplace for returns products and offer Chip customers access to market-leading rates and FSCS-protected accounts.
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“The most powerful way for Chip to grow is to have thousands of investors advocating for the product they believe in,” said CEO Simon Rabin.
“It’s amazing to have this many Chip savers as investors in the company. We’ve proven there’s a big demand for Chip, and we’re ready to scale – we’re going to use our investment to grow and deliver a product that will fill a huge gap in the market.
“Many of the other big names in FinTech are focused on making spending easier. Monzo have the current account, Curve are disrupting credit cards, Revolut have the travel card, but Chip… Chip is for saving.”
The investment comes after a year in which Chip grew the company’s accounts to over 150,000 and made a number of senior hires, including CTO David Kavanagh, a former CTO of Purplebricks; COO Sharon Miles, former innovation director of B2B FinTech unicorn Deposit Solutions; and CCO Gerard Hurley, former compliance lead at Funding Circle.
Monzo co-founder Gary Dolman also joined as an advisor to the board.
Kavanagh added: “The savings market is archaic, broken and ineffective. People want more from their savings accounts, so they are voting with their capital.
“Chip has raised VC-levels of funding from its users and supporters, demonstrating that what customers want is a market-changing product that is easy to use, helps them save, and offers the best possible rates in the market.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time for the company and I’m delighted to have joined it as such a pivotal stage.
“I look forward to working with the team at Chip to help set a new standard for savings apps.”