Fintech startup Revolut just raised a ton of money. But grabbing $66 million from respected VC firms wasn’t enough (£50 million). For the second time, Revolut asked its user base to invest in the startup.
Revolut was looking for $5.3 million on Seedrs (£4 million), but 40,000 customers said that they were interested in the investment opportunity. If Revolut took all the money, it would represent $22.3 million (£17 million). But the company will limit its equity crowdfunding campaign to its initial goal.
The $5.3 million target was reached in less than 24 hours, which is quite impressive as equity crowdfunding ins’t as popular as other investment products. Revolut even says that there has never been an equity crowdfunding campaign with so many pre-registered investors.
Revolut expects to attract 4,000 to 10,000 investors as people can invest $1,300 at most (£1,000). At first, the first 5,000 Revolut users who signed up to Revolut Premium will get invited to the Seedrs page and will be able to invest twice as much as regular investors.
Then, Revolut will gradually invite random users who pre-registered on the Seedrs page. Oh, and tennis player Andy Murray also said that he wants to invest, so Revolut is going to invite him to the round straight away. Murray has a strategy partnership with Seedrs, so that might explain a few things.
For context, there are now 750,000 Revolut users. Revolut is a digital wallet that lets you receive, exchange and send money in dozens of currencies. When you sign up, you can create virtual cards and receive a good old plastic MasterCard. You can top up your account using another card or a bank transfer.
Over time, Revolut has been adding new features, such as personal IBANs, a credit feature, business accounts and travel insurance. With this funding round, Revolut plans to add support for cryptocurrencies, stocks and bonds. The company is also going to expand to North America and Asia.