Curve, the UK fintech that consolidates multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, has secured $55 million as part of a Series B funding round, valuing the company at a quarter of a billion dollars.
The investment places Curve in the top five UK consumer fintechs next to Transferwise, Monzo, Revolut and Starling, according to data from Dealroom and Invyo insights.
The round is being led by Gauss Ventures, alongside other prominent investors such as Creditease, Cathay Innovation, IDC Ventures and further participation from Outward VC (previously Investec’s INVC fund), Santander InnoVentures, Breega, Seedcamp and Speedinvest.
While conventional challenger banks like Monzo and Starling are going the full bank current account route, Curve is aiming at the the 'connected finance' space, combining all payment cards into one Mastercard connected to a mobile app.
Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve says: “Curve is playing a completely different ball game, it is not a challenger bank which means that we can focus on creating a radically better customer experience, without asking customers to trust their salaries with us, or the significant overhead of becoming a regulated bank.”
Curve, which launched out of Beta in February 2018, is is on track to welcome its millionth customer by the year end, he says. The Curve team now has over 150 people in its UK offices in London and Bristol.
Already available in 31 European countries, Curve plans to use the fresh funding to expand its product offering in the UK, Europe and overseas. It will officially launch into six European markets later this year: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, and aims to launch its operations in the US by mid next year.