UK challenger Starling Bank has raised £30 million in a new funding round as it firms up its B2B offering and prepares for expansion into European markets.
Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Limited is leading the round with an investment of £20 million, while Starling’s existing investor, JTC, has added a further £10 million.
Since launching its app in May 2017, Starling has opened 930,000 accounts. It expects to hit one million customers within weeks.
Today’s investment brings the total raised by Starling to £263 million and follows a £75 million funding round, led by Merian Global Investors in February 2019, as well as the award to Starling of £100 million from the RBS bail-out fund to kickstart its move into the busines banking sector.
Anne Boden, founder and chief executive of Starling Bank, says: “This latest investment of £20 million from Merian Chrysalis will support Starling’s rapid growth and help us reach one million customers and £1 billion on deposit within weeks. It will also help us accelerate our global expansion, starting in Europe, so that even more people can benefit from the Starling app.”