Monzo is now valued at $5.9 billion after the UK-based challenger bank confirmed a secondary market share sale to provide liquidity to its employees.
The deal was first rumored yesterday, with existing investors including Singapore's sovereign wealth fund (GIC) and Stepstone Group raising additional stake in the London-based fintech company.
A secondary market sale essentially rewards the employees who helped the company get to its current position without going public, or at least buying time.
It's been an action-packed year for Monzo. The company raised $190 million in May, just two months after launching a $425 million Series I round with an unusual co-investment from Alphabet's CapitalG and sister VC firm GV. The startup has now raised about $1.5 billion since its founding nine years ago.
During its March fundraising, Monzo said its pre-fund valuation was £3.6 billion ($4.6 billion), implying a post-fund valuation of £4 billion ($5 billion). I was doing it. This valuation increased slightly in the subsequent second tranche. May. The following month, Monzo reported its first full-year (pre-tax) profit, with sales more than doubling year over year. The company claims 20% of UK adults and 6% of domestic businesses are its customers.
This growth, coupled with a roadmap that includes broader expansion in Europe and plans to accelerate expansion in the US market, with the appointment of a new CEO last October, has clearly been enough to support valuation gains over the past five months. It is considered that
Rival British neobank Revolut recently confirmed a new valuation of $45 billion through a similar secondary market sale, shortly after securing its own banking licenses in the UK and Mexico.
“It's great to be able to meet further investor demand for Monzo stock while providing some liquidity to our employees,” Monzo CEO TS Anil said in a statement.