Member Article

Revolut has just raised $66m as it guns for Asia and the US

Challenger bank Revolut has closed a $66m (£51m) Series B round with backing from some major investors and venture capital firms as it looks to launch its services in the Far East and the US.

The London-based FinTech firm has sealed backing from existing investors Balderton Capital, Index Ventures and Ribbit Capital, bringing total investment in the business to $83m.

Founded in 2015, Revolut initially started out as a foreign exchange business, but has since grown out its services and products as it looks to challenge the big banks and other digital-only challenger banks with more traditional banking services.

It launched its business banking service last month while its partnership with Lending Works to provide loans to users back in March was part of a growing trend of collaboration and consolidation amongst European FinTech firms taking on the traditional banks.

Now the firm is looking to expand its services overseas, with aggressive expansion plans for Europe, including France, Germany and Scandinavia, while a large chunk of its Series B will be channelled towards launches in Asia and the US.

In a stacked set of announcements, Revolut also said it would soon begin accepting bitcoin and ethereum and that it would be launching a $5m crowd raise on Seedrs to build on its strong crowd backing already.

Touching upon the company’s expansion plans, CEO and Founder, Nikolay Storonsky, said that the time was ripe to take the ‘FinTech revolution’ further afield.

He commented: “Asia and North America are far from immune to hidden banking fees and dated technology. The fintech revolution has been an astounding success across Europe, and now is the time to broaden our horizon and embark on our global mission.”