Revolut Investor Says FinTech’s Value Has Jumped 45%

A Revolut investor reportedly believes the FinTech’s value has climbed 45% since last year.

An investment trust overseen by Schroders has upped its stake in the British company, from 7.88 million pounds ($9.75 million) as of Dec. 31, from 5.44 million pounds ($6.75 million) a year earlier, Bloomberg News reported Monday (April 15).

The Bloomberg report notes that while Schroders’ stake is small, it still implies that Revolut’s valuation has risen to $25.7 billion, up from $17.7 billion last year but below the $33 billion valuation the company reached in a 2021 round of funding.

According to the report, Schroders believes Revolut has achieved “solid progress” in the last year and named the company’s international expansion of its services as among reasons for examining its stake.

Last year, venture capital firm Molten Ventues slashed its valuation of Revolut by 40%, with CEO Martin Davis saying he was still confident in the FinTech, and that it was Revolut’s ongoing efforts to obtain a U.K. banking license that led to the markdown.

“But the reality is, we all know that there are some proof points the market wants to see around increased revenues for 2022, to get a clean set of accounts for 2022,” Davis said in an interview with City AM. “They want to see visibility around profitability, they want to see visibility around the banking license in the U.K.”

Revolut recently began offering phone plans for British customers, which includes eSIMs — electronic versions of a phone’s SIM card — and global data plans to let users roam and remain connected without racking up unexpected roaming charges

“Our ambition is very much to be the financial super app,” Tara Massoudi, general manager of premium products at Revolut, told CNBC. “This is really in that direction.”

And last month, Francesca Carlesi, Revolut’s U.K. CEO, warned that London risks losing out to Paris and New York in the race to attract new startups, but still indicated the British capital is still in the running to host Revolut’s eventual initial public offering (IPO).

“The U.K. is our home and is also one where a lot of our investors come from,” Carlesi told Bloomberg. “We know that companies are always better off to list where their biggest market is.”

But for now, she added, going public is not her focus. Rather, Carlesi said she wants to help Revolut manage issues around accounts, controls management and culture as it enters its third year of attempting to gain its British banking license.