Revolut digital bank valued at 33 billion dollars in a new funding round

LONDON – British fintech firm Revolut said on Thursday it had raised $ 800 million in a new round of funding led by SoftBank and Tiger Global.

Revolut, which offers banking and commerce services through an app, is now valued at $ 33 billion following its latest cycle, a six-fold increase from the $ 5.5 billion the company was worth for the year. last.

Latest fundraising makes Revolut the second largest fintech unicorn – a private start-up worth over $ 1 billion – in Europe, behind buy-now-pay-ulter giant Klarna , according to data from CB Insights. It is also now the UK’s largest fintech, beating payment company Checkout.com.

The fresh cash comes from Japanese conglomerate Vision Fund 2 of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and US hedge fund Tiger Global, which collectively hold less than 5% of the company’s share capital.

Revolut will use the money to invest in marketing, product development and international expansion, Mikko Salovaara, chief financial officer of Revolut told reporters on Thursday. The company has a strong focus on accelerating growth in the United States and India, he added.

Fintech startups have seen a surge in funding lately, raising a record $ 33.7 billion in the second quarter of 2021, according to CB Insights. In Europe, companies like the Trade Republic of Germany and the Mollie of the Netherlands have raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors.

Salovaara said Revolut did not have immediate plans for an initial public offering, after raising significant funding. He didn’t rule out an IPO this year, but suggested it was unlikely. Last week, money transfer giant Wise went public on London’s largest tech listing by market capitalization.

Revolut announced annual losses of £ 167.8million ($ 231.9million) in 2020, higher than the £ 106.7million lost by the company the previous year. The fintech had a turnover of £ 222.1million last year. This means Revolut’s new market value is over 100 times its 2020 sales.

Revolut managed to break even around the second half of 2020 and was “highly profitable” in the first quarter of this year, Salovaara said.

The company is banking on its expansion into new services such as crypto, stock trading and trading accounts to achieve long-term profitability, CEO and co-founder Nik Storonsky told CNBC in a recent interview.