Buzzy UK challenger bank Monzo is in talks to raise $130 million in new funding as London's fintech race heats up

TomBlomfield Monzo.JPG

UK challenger banking fintech Monzo is in talks to raise up to £100 million ($131 million) in new funding as London's startup race continues.
Monzo is reportedly in talks with several large investors about a fund raise, per the Mail on Sunday.
The fintech has around 3.5 million users and over 1,500 staff as it competes with fellow challengers Revolut, Starling Bank, and N26.
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The race at the top of London's fintech banking scene looks set to heat up once again.

Digital challenger bank Monzo is reportedly in talks for up to £100 million ($131 million) in new funding, hot on the heels of a potential new fundraise from competitor Revolut, the Mail on Sunday first reported.

Monzo is in talks to raise between £50 million and £100 million from a number of large institutions, according to the report. It follows a $113 million raise from VC investors, including Y Combinator Continuity, earlier this year and could be one of two major rounds for Monzo in 2020.

Neo-bank Monzo secured $113 million in Series F funding from a series of existing and new investors including Y Combinator Continuity to jump to a valuation of $2.6 billion in June. The challenger bank, founded in 2015, gained its unicorn valuation last October in its previous funding round, and has since added more than a million customers. Monzo claimed it had around 3.5 million customers and over 1,500 staff.

The Financial Times also reported on the fundraising, citing people familiar with the matter who said that Monzo had been in talks with investors about an extension to its $113 million round ahead of a bumper "Series G" funding in 2020. Monzo offers users a bright coral coloured card alongside a bevy of digital banking services via an app and competes with fellow challengers, Revolut, Starling Bank, and Germany's N26.

Y Combinator Continuity backs the subsequent funding rounds of alumni companies of the seed accelerator Y Combinator. Other investors in the Monzo round included General Catalyst, Stripe, Passion Capital, Thrive, Goodwater, Accel and Orange Digital Ventures. Monzo has now secured a total of $414.5 million in funding.

The company made a pre-tax loss of £50.7 million in the 12 months to February 2019, according to its annual report. Fellow fintech startup Revolut is also said to be in talks for a new equity fundraising and could be looking to bring in as much as $1.5 billion.

Monzo did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Business Insider.

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