REX: Starling Bank Breaks New Grounds

FACTS

• The British challenger bank Starling Bank closed another major funding series.

• They just raised £30 million, or roughly €35 million.
• This financing round involves their existing investors:
  • Merian Global Investors (via Chrysalis Investment Company Limited): £20 million,
  • JTC: £10 million.

KEY FIGURES

• 2017: app launched
• 930,000 accounts
• 1M customers within a few weeks
• £263M raised
• Goal: £1B in deposits within weeks

CHALLENGES

• Growing globally. As they reported encouraging results, Starling Bank aims for global reach, starting with Europe.
• Boosting their range of services. This investment will help them renew their services for individual and corporate customers, as well as build inter-enterprise offers.

MARKET PERSPECTIVE

• Starling Bank’s expansion plan is fuelled by their promising results and by a number of funding series.
• Competition has been growing over the past months among challenger banks. And some of these players stand out. The top second FinTech, Monzo, for instance, recently revamped their premium offer. Just like their rivals, their scale increases. Starling Bank will also face competition from Revolut and N26 in Europe and worldwide.