Monzo Looks To Top Off Series G With $69 Million Down Round

London FinTech Monzo is looking to top up its Series G funding round by £50 million ($69 million) on a lower valuation, UK Tech News reported on Tuesday (Feb. 8).

The Series G round has so far been led by existing shareholders and a new venture capital firm, Octahedron Capital. The £60 million raised in December was also a down round, with Monzo having a valuation of £1.25 billion, down 40 percent from its previous valuation of £2 billion. 

Monzo also lost more money in 2020 compared to 2019. In July, the challenger bank reported that its annual post-tax loss was roughly £113.8 million. In 2019, the post-tax loss was £47.1. Despite its losses, the U.K. startup has raised £175 million during the pandemic. 

The company’s overall fundraising efforts have broken records for a digital-only bank, making it among the bigger crowdfunding success stories, according to FinTech Magazine. In 2016, Monzo notched £1 million in under two minutes. In 2018, the startup raised £20 million in a few days.

This Series G extension follows the departure of Monzo’s co-founder Tom Blomfield, who had been CEO and then president. Blomfield said he left due to pandemic-related personal reasons, but had been unhappy at the bank for the past few years. Former Visa executive TS Anil, already with Monzo, took his place. 

After starting off 2020 with fresh funding, Monzo cut 120 jobs due to the pandemic. At that time, Blomfield gave up his own salary.

Launched in 2015, Monzo has close to five million individual customers and over 60,000 business users. The platform also has over 100,000 customers across Monzo Plus and Monzo Premium, its paid accounts. The bank’s other co-founders are Gary Dolman, Jason Bates, Jonas Huckestein and Paul Rippon.

Monzo’s December down round was attributed to the pandemic, with a reduction in card spending in the U.K. and internationally, which meant a drop in interchange fees. The bank laid off and furloughed workers and shuttered its Las Vegas office.