Revolut Said to Eye Fundraising at Over $20 Billion Valuation
Revolut Said to Eye Fundraising at Over $20 Billion Valuation
(Bloomberg) -- Revolut Ltd. is in the early stages of a fundraising round that could value the British company at $20 billion or more, people familiar with the matter said, as investor cash pours into fintechs.
The company has held preliminary talks with investors about raising funds, though no final decisions about timing or amount have been made, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. A representative for Revolut declined to comment.
Revolut Chief Executive Officer Nikolay Storonsky said in an interview with Bloomberg this month that the company is looking at further fundraising but declined to discuss further. Sky News reported in April that Revolut was seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion.
The new money would increase London-based Revolut’s valuation several times over a fundraising round in 2020, when the digital banking services company raised $500 million, giving it a value of $5.5 billion. The new valuation would make Revolut the U.K.’s most valuable startup, surpassing Checkout.com’s $15 billion mark.
Fintech Wave
Revolut, which provides digital banking services via an app, is part of a wave of fintech startups attracting multi-billion-dollar valuations from investors.
Swedish startup Klarna Bank AB, which lets online customers pay for their shopping in installments, raised cash at a $45.6 billion valuation this month after a series of funding rounds that more-than quadrupled its valuation in less than a year. In April, San Francisco-based Plaid raised new financing at a $13 billion valuation, just a few months after a $5.3 billion deal with Visa fell through.
Revolut, founded in 2015, has about 15 million personal and 500,000 business customers for its products, which include bank accounts, international money transfers, crypto-currency and stock trading as well as bill paying and budgeting tools.
Adjusted revenue in 2020 rose 57% to 261 million pounds ($362 million) but operating losses doubled to 201 million pounds as its rapid expansion saw staff costs surge.
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