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Starling Bank, a prominent digital banking platform, has secured £60 million in a Series C funding round spearheaded by Merian Global Investors, with participation from the Merian Chrysalis Investment Company. Additionally, Starling has garnered an extra £15 million from its existing investor, bringing the total investment to £75 million.
This funding injection will fuel Starling’s expansion efforts, supporting and enhancing its innovative financial products in retail and SME banking within the UK and facilitating its foray into global markets, beginning with Europe.
The bank’s expansion strategy aims to capitalize on its notable success in the UK since its app launch in May 2017, boasting a customer base of 460,000 personal current accounts and 30,000 SME accounts. Starling anticipates reaching one million customers by the end of 2019.
Furthermore, Starling’s Banking Services division, which offers its cutting-edge banking and payments infrastructure to third parties, has garnered 20 institutional clients, with payment volume doubling month on month. The Starling Marketplace, Europe’s first fully integrated financial marketplace, continues to grow, with 11 partners currently onboard and more in the pipeline.
Renowned for its innovative approach, Starling consistently introduces new products and features, with its latest offering being a euro account that enables UK residents to manage euros seamlessly.
Merian Chrysalis, managed by Richard Watts and Nick Williamson of Merian Global Investors’ small and mid-cap desk, specializes in investing in late-stage private companies. Anne Boden, the founder and CEO of Starling Bank, expressed the company’s ambition to leverage its technology to establish a next-generation global digital banking platform, commencing with its European expansion this year.
