British digital bank Monzo raised $430 million in new funding from investors on Tuesday to help it relaunch its services in the United States
Monzo raises funding in new funding round led by CapitalG, the independent venture capital arm of Google parent company letter.
Chinese venture capital firm Hongshan, which was spun out from Sequoia Capital last year, also backed the round along with existing backers Tencent and passion capital.
Monzo, one of the UK’s most popular app-based banks, said the new cash will be used to accelerate its expansion plans. TS Anil, CEO of the bank, told the Financial Times The funding will allow Monzo to break into the U.S. market after its previous forays were blocked by U.S. regulators.
Monzo 執行長TS Anil 在聲明中表示：「在全球投資者的支持下，我們擁有了火箭燃料，可以更加努力、更快地實現我們的雄心壯志，將Monzo 打造成一款位於客戶財務生活中心的應用program.”
“Each milestone we’ve reached thus far has given us greater strength and speed to make strides toward our mission—and now we’ll reach even greater heights and seize the greatness of the future. opportunity.”
The new cash comes from Monzo’s strong growth in 2023.
The British neobank turned a profit for the first time in the first two months of 2023. Monzo reported revenue up 88% to £214.5 million ($272 million), up from £114 million in 2022.
Relaunch in the United States
A significant portion of the cash will be used to help Monzo relaunch services in the US
Monzo previously attempted to launch in the U.S. in 2019, offering a beta product to U.S. consumers. The company operates in the United States through a partnership with community bank Sutton Bank.
It wanted a full U.S. banking license but was forced to abandon the plan in 2021 after two years of fruitless negotiations with regulators.
Monzo has since chosen to focus on re-entering the United States and forming partnerships with it to serve U.S. customers, bypassing the requirement to obtain a full banking license.
The company will begin searching for a U.S. CEO in 2023 in a renewed attempt to expand into the U.S. market. The company in October 2023 hired Conor Walsh, a former executive at fintech company Block’s Cash App division, as its new U.S. chief executive.
Monzo’s new funding round also comes after the bank focused on developing new products. Monzo makes its own It made its first foray into investment products in 2023 with the launch of Investment Pots, which allow clients to park cash in a range of funds managed by BlackRock with varying risk levels.
Monzo said it currently has more than 9 million retail customers in the UK, and will add 2 million customers in 2023 alone. The company also has 400,000 commercial banking customers.
