Smart savings app Chip has completed the UK's largest equity crowdfund since the lockdown started, with over 4,000 investors taking part in the £2.6 million raise.
Working with Crowdcube, the private round exceeded its £1 million target within hours.
Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, comments: “The raise with Chip shows that, despite the bigger economic turmoil, there is still an appetite from communities and everyday investors to support startup and scaleup businesses.”
The new financing comes just months after the firm raised a total of £7.3 million, with £3.8 million crowdfunded by customers, and the remainder from angel investors.
Chip intends to use the funds to launch an FSCS protected savings account through a partner bank - shelving previous intentions to apply for its own banking licence - as well as to deliver new features to accommodate the changing behaviours of their savers since the beginning of the pandemic.
Simon Rabin, CEO and founder of Chip, says the firm's user base has increased over 40% in the first three months of 2020, with the average amount put aside by savers each month increasing by 13%.
The ‘safety net fund’ has knocked ‘holiday’ off the top spot as the most popular goal set by savers since the outbreak started. Similarly, people are tapping into funds originally set aside for holidays, festivals and weddings and spending the money on supporting small businesses, purchasing homeschooling supplies and laptops for kids and DIY endeavours.
Says Rabin: “We've seen unprecedented growth during these difficult times, which demonstrates that Chip is incredibly useful for putting money aside for safety net and emergency funds."