French mobile payments startup Lydia has extended its Series B funding round, raising an additional $86 million led by Accel.
Total Series B funding now stands at €131 million, making it the largest round ever raised by a French fintech. Previous investors include the likes of Chinese e-commerce giant Tencent, Open CNP and New Alpha.
Launched in 2013, the Lydia P2P payments service now has four million users and a 25% market share among French millenials. Like its American counterpart Venmo, the brand has even entered the lexicon as a verb.
Recently, the company has diversified, enabling users to get accounts, payment cards, loans, insurance and gift cards. Some of these products are developed inhouse, with others provided by third parties through a marketplace.
Lydia CEO Cyril Chiche says the firm will use the cash to expand its geographic footprint, following an initial foray into Portgual earlier this year.
Amit Jahwar, the former general manager of Venmo and Accel Venture partner, led the investment for Accel and joins the Lydia board.
Says Chiche: "This investment will not only enable us to respond to our customers' needs faster and move into new markets, but also benefit from Amit's experience building Venmo. I believe Lydia now has what it takes to become Europe's leading financial super-app."
The annual Finextra Fintech Outlook survey, developed in association with Smith & Williamson, seeks to gather the views and opinions of founders and senior management of the Fintech community in the UK with regards to business confidence, talent, tax, funding and the outlook for the future. Click here to participate.