The funding will help increase investment in Starling’s retail and SME bank accounts
Image: UK digital bank Starling Bank has raised £30m in funding for business expansion. Photo: courtesy of Starling Bank.
UK-based digital bank Starling Bank has secured £30m in a new funding round for the expansion of its business operations.
Merian Chrysalis Investment Company has added £20m, while the remaining £10m has been added by Starling’s existing investor JTC.
The expansion will build on Starling’s success to date in the UK
Starling Bank will use the funding to increase investment in its retail and SME bank accounts as well as B2B banking services.
The funding will also help the digital bank to accelerate its expansion into Europe.
According to Starling Bank, the expansion will be based on its success to date in the UK and underscores its ambitions to change the face of banking.
Starling has opened 930,000 accounts since the launch of its app in May 2017. The digital bank aims to reach one million customers within weeks
The latest investment brings Starling’s total raised amount by £263m and follows a £75m funding round led by Merian Global Investors in February 2019. The Capabilities and Innovation Fund has also provided £100m to Starling in February.
Starling Bank founder and chief executive Anne Boden said: “We’ve come a long way since Merian Global Investors’ first investment of £50 million earlier this year, adding new products and features and accelerating our rate of customer acquisition.
“This latest investment of £20 million from Merian Chrysalis will support Starling’s rapid growth and help us reach one million customers and £1 billion on deposit within weeks. It will also help us accelerate our global expansion, starting in Europe, so that even more people can benefit from the Starling app.”
Through its retail banking app, Starling Bank provides personal, business and joint and euro current accounts on Android and iOS.
The Starling Marketplace provides customers with in-app access to a selection of third-party financial services. In addition, the digital bank offers B2B banking and payments services and Banking-as-a-Service platform.
In July this year, Starling Bank announced that it will provide SumUp and its card reader merchants access to its API-based banking infrastructure to help businesses receive next-day payments.