Tandem is following in the footsteps of rival UK startup Mondo by launching a £1 million crowdfunding campaign, enabling future customers to own shares in the mobile-first challenger bank.
Tandem will be hoping to generate the same level of buzz that surrounded the Mondo raise in March, which generated £1 million in pledges in a record-breaking one minute and 36 seconds on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Mondo was forced to suspend its initial launch date for the crowdfunding rise, after a rush of applicants from eager investors overwhelmed Crowdcube servers.
Tandem received its banking license at the end of 2015 and is set to launch later this year, having raised 'tens of millions of pounds', according to founder Ricky Knox. The most recent unspecified Series B-1 round investment in April came from Omidyar Networks, the philanthropic fund established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam.
Tandem has already established a 'Co-Founder Community', through which members of the general public receive one share in the startup and exclusive access to new products in exchange for feedback and closer engagement with the bank. Five thousand people have so far joined the network, says Knox.
Knox told CNBC that the crowdfunding page will be on Tandem's website and will begin sometime in mid-May.