REX: Chime’s Valuation on the Rise

FACTS

• The mobile bank Chime breaks new ground in customer acquisition and sees their valuation increase sharply.

• They recently announced their valuation now reaches $5.8 billion.
• This record stems from a $500 million funding series, involving investors such as include General Atlantic, ICONIQ, Coatue, Dragoneer, Access Technology Ventures and Menlo Venture.

KEY FIGURES

• 2014: Chime was founded
• More than 6M customers
• 50 interactions per month on average
• Assessment: roughly $200M in revenue by end 2019

CHALLENGES

• Boosting their workforce. Their latest funding round will enable them to hire more employees.
• Expanding their range of offers. Even if no details have been specified, Chime intends to diversify their set of financial products, through the addition of credit cards and investment services.  
• Acquiring more skills. Lastly, Chime will also rely on this funding round to acquire other FinTechs.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Chime’s valuation witnessed a sharp increase after their $500 millionSeries E funding round: a major investment on the American market for digital banking. They even managed to raise $100 million more than NuBank ($400 million obtained last summer).
• This FinTech will, however, have to withstand competition from long-standing industry players as well as from Web giants. Google, for instance, said they are planning to launch a checking account, increasing competitive pressure on a crowded market.