According to The Guardian, Monzo is close to securing £100 million from a new, unnamed American investor. This would come a few months after it raised £20 million in a crowdfunding campaign that involved many of its 1.2 million customers.
The challenger bank reached unicorn status in October 2018 after raising 85 million pounds.
If it is able to raise this latest round, Monzo will jump ahead of rival Revolut as the U.K.’s second-most valuable FinTech startup, behind small business lender OakNorth.
The fresh funding would also mean that customers who participated in the crowdfunding campaign could already see significant gains, with one user on Monzo’s community forum saying the shares would probably be worth “£12-14 minimum now, if the news of an increased valuation is true.”
Another asked: “How much are Round One investors smiling today?” User bretonhill, also identified as a crowdfunding investor, replied: “Personally, I can tell you: a lot. Lovely news to wake up to on a lazy Sunday!”
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In February, Monzo revealed that it was looking to expand past just mobile-based personal banking customers to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
“This week, we’re excited to announce that we’re launching a small test of business accounts to 100 sole traders and limited companies!” the company said in a blog post on Feb. 11.
“You find it nearly impossible to open an account and way too difficult to understand all the different fees you pay. You didn’t start your business to spend your nights and weekends worrying about financial admin and expenses. You use so much software, so many different tools and systems that it’s hard to keep up,” the company said. “The list goes on and on, but after speaking to over 200 of you, one thing is clear: your business is unique, and so are your needs.”
