British challenger bank Monzo has completed a heavily-trailed $400 million funding round, boosting its valuation to $5 billion.
The round, a reward for pushing the bank towards profitability, was led by Alphabet-owned Capital G, with support from Google Ventures, HongShan Capital, as well as existing backers including Passion Capital and Tencent.
Monzo last raised money in late 2021, securing $500 million at a $4.5 billion valuation - three times the £1.1 billion price tag it attracted in its previous discounted capital-raise earlier that year.
News of the deal comes as Monzo reports more than nine million personal account customers, making it the 7th biggest retail bank in the UK by customer numbers.
After a rocky post-pandemic, the lender has bounced back strongly, rolling out a series of new services for pension and investment and preparing for a move into the insurance segment. After years of losses, the bank is expecting to finally hit profitability this year.
TS Anil, CEO of Monzo says: “We’ve built incredible momentum in the business over the past few years. With backing from global investors, we have the rocket fuel to go after our ambitions harder and faster, building Monzo into the one app that sits at the centre of our customers’ financial lives.”
The funds will be used to build out the product roadmap and for a renewed push into the US market, following the appointment last year of former Cash App global product head Conor Walsh as US CEO.