Atom Bank Raises $36M, No Mention of IPO

U.K. neobank Atom Bank announced on Friday (Nov. 25) that it has raised 30 million pounds ($36 million), and will use the capital to fund its customer lending and drive growth.

Previous investors BBVA, Toscafund and Infinity Investment Partners contributed, bringing the firm’s total investment raised this year to over 100 million pounds ($119.8 million).

“I’m delighted that the bank’s continued success means that BBVA, Toscafund and Infinity Investment Partners have added to their stake in Atom, and taken new capital investment during 2022 to over 100 million pounds,” Mark Mullen, CEO at Atom, said.

“Alongside continued growth in our mortgage and business lending books, the bank is proving that our clear focus on being fast, easy, and value for money is something that will keep benefiting both our customers and shareholders,” Mullen added.

In a previous round that closed in February, the bank secured 75 million pounds ($90 million) in what Mullen called “a fundamental next step on our journey toward IPO.” This time around, however, Atom made no mention of any potential IPO in its press release, suggesting the bank has temporarily shelved plans to list publicly.

In light of a challenging economic environment and investor skittishness, Atom isn’t the only business kicking its IPO plans down the road.

Last month, PYMNTS reported that the food delivery firm Instacart has postponed its own plans to go public in favor of biding its time and waiting for more favorable market conditions. Zepz, the parent company of WorldRemit, also shelved its IPO plans this year.

For finance chiefs who are helping prepare their organizations for whatever comes next, it’s good to set the bar high.

Besides indicating a desire to wait it out until they think they can raise a higher valuation, recent delays in IPOs point to what ExtraHop’s CFO Matt Parson called the “IPO-readiness bar” in an interview with PYMNTS.

Explaining the concept, Parson said, “it’s good discipline for any business to have, irrespective of whether you’re going to go public or not […] A lot of the things that you would do are things that are just good discipline and practice for the business anyway.”

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