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Digital banking startup Revolut lands $250M in funding, now valued at $1.7B
The venture capital community continues to make big bets on startups working to disrupt the financial sector.
Revolut Ltd., a five-year-old digital banking firm in London, today announced that it has closed a hefty $250 million financing round led by DST Global. The Hong Kong-based fund is notable for having made early investments in tech giants such as Facebook Inc. and Spotify Technology SA, which went public earlier this month.
Revolut will invest a part of the capital in hiring more personnel to speed up product development. The startup, which began its journey by offering a debit card that lets users make purchases in different currencies, has since launched a raft of additional offerings, including a savings account and a lending service. Revolut also operates a crytocurrency trading tool that is available from its mobile app alongside the more conventional features.
The market has responded well to the startup’s value proposition. Revolut claimed it processed $1.5 billion worth of transactions in 2017, an eightfold jump over the previous year.
This rapid growth is no doubt one of the reasons that drove DST Global and the startup’s other investors to bet so much on its future prospects. On top of adding more workers, Revolut also plans to expand into more markets worldwide in a bid to sustain its momentum. The provider will make its services available in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year.
The expansion is set to be accompanied by the release of yet more products. Among them is a Revolut Wealth, a tool that will enable users to invest their funds into stocks and other securities.
Revolut said it’ss valued at $1.7 billion thanks to the new funding. Other startups in online banking have also been growing their war chests lately. One of the most notable examples is TransferWise Ltd., which offers a low-cost money transfer service that competes with Revolut. It secured a $280 million funding round late last year to scale operations.
Image: Revolut
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