UK Challenger Bank OakNorth To Launch In US With $440M In Funding

OakNorth Holdings announced that it has secured $440 million in funding from the SoftBank Vision Fund and the Clermont Group.

This latest round brings OakNorth’s total funding to over $1 billion, more than any other FinTech in Europe. Since its launch in 2015, OakNorth has lent more than $3.7 billion to U.K. businesses without a single default or late payment. Its loans have helped create over 9,500 new homes and 11,000 new jobs in the country. This new financing will be used to launch OakNorth’s lending operations in the U.S.

“We are excited to have another strong investor on board. With this financing from SoftBank and follow-on investment from Clermont, we will be able to continue scaling the group’s operations globally,” said Rishi Khosla, co-founder of OakNorth, in a press release. “If you’re a lender who wants to get serious about commercial lending to small and medium-[sized] growth businesses [SMBs], we can help you originate and underwrite deals faster and more efficiently, as well as maintain a clearer view of how each business in your portfolio is performing. If you’re a growth business in either the U.K. or the U.S., we can help you by providing you with a customized debt finance solution that will enable you to achieve your growth ambitions.”

He added, “We have a relentless focus on helping [SMBs] across the world that are in growth mode access better financing to fund their development. These businesses are the backbone of economies and communities, as evidenced by the thousands of new homes and jobs created from the loans we’ve done so far.”

In addition, the support of SoftBank Investment Advisers will help OakNorth launch its Analytical Intelligence platform to additional banks and lenders around the world. The technology is currently being used by institutions in Asia, North America and Europe.

“OakNorth is delivering a highly differentiated service to a key segment of the market that has historically been underserved by commercial banks,” said Munish Varma, partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “The company has a clear and ambitious vision to scale globally, and we are excited to work with them to achieve this goal.”