Challenger bank Starling has announced a £60m raise from existing investors Merian Global Investors and JTC.
The investment will bring the total raised by Starling to £323m, and follows two funding rounds of £105 million in aggregate led by Merian in 2019.
Starling reports that it has opened 1.25m accounts for consumers and small businesses, since launching its banking app in May 2017. It now holds more than £1.25bn on deposit.
The firm said that it will also award shares of the firm to all 800 employees, a move “allowing everyone in the company to share directly in its success”, it said.
Anne Boden, founder and chief executive of Starling Bank, added: “The support of our existing investors represents a huge endorsement of our business strategy, as we continue to ramp up our growth.
“We’re constantly innovating and have big ambitions to turn Starling into a world-leading digital bank.
“We could not do this without the support of our 800 employees, who work so hard to provide a better banking experience for our customers, giving them more control over their finances. So I’m thrilled to be giving shares to them.”
Nick Williamson, co-manager of Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited, said: “Starling has continued to innovate and has already established itself as one of the most highly-regarded UK challenger banks. Its superior user experience is winning over retail and business customers and we believe 2020 is set to be a defining year for the business.”
Yesterday Starling Bank was connected with the editing of Wikipedia entries for both the firm and Boden.
The Sunday Telegraph reported that one Wikipedia user had published a screenshot of a document which they claimed showed Starling Bank employees planning to rewrite the bank’s entry to make it more positive.