challenger banks
Vivid Money, a financial super app, raises $114M at an $886M valuation to expand in Europe
Vivid Money, a challenger bank out of Berlin with 500,000 customers, has made a name for itself with a financial one-stop shop “super app” that, in addition to basic checking…
Israeli fintech Personetics raises $85M for tools to help incumbents personalize banking services to compete with neobanks
Big banks are under a lot of pressure to modernize their services to meet demands of consumers who now view as table stakes things like mobile apps that identify who…
Thought Machine closes $200M for its cloud native banking SaaS and becomes a unicorn
Thought Machine, a 2014 (Xoogler) founded startup that sells cloud-based b2b banking services, has closed a $200 million Series C round and announced that it’s achieved unicorn status (aka, passing…
Greece’s Viva Wallet raises $80M for its neobank targeting small business merchants
Challenger banks continue to make significant waves in the world of finance, with smaller outfits luring customers away from incumbents by providing an easier way for them to not only…
Teen banking service Step raises $100M Series C, announces Steph Curry’s investment
Step, the digital banking service aimed at teens and endorsed by TikTok star Charli D’Amelio, announced this morning the close of a $100 million round of Series C funding after…
New challenger Ikigai combines digital banking and wealth management
Ikigai, a London fintech founded by former McKinsey partners, thinks there’s room in the crowded challenger market for a new premium offering that combines digital banking with wealth management. Targeting…
Challenger banks continue to see huge infusions of cash from investors bullish on the opportunity for smaller and faster-moving tech-based banking startups to woo customers from their larger rivals. In…
Monzo founder Tom Blomfield is departing the challenger bank and says he’s ‘struggled’ during the pandemic
Monzo founder Tom Blomfield is departing the U.K. challenger bank entirely at the end of the month, staff were informed earlier today. Blomfield held the role of CEO until May…
With nearly half a million customers across Mexico and a network of 30,000 retail locations where representatives can take deposits, the challenger bank albo is already on its way to…
Helping big banks out-Affirm Affirm and out-Chime Chime gives Amount a $681 million valuation
Amount, a new service that helps traditional banks compete in a digital world, has raised $81 million from none other than Goldman Sachs as it looks to help legacy fintech…
HMBradley raises $18.25 million planting a flag as LA’s entrant into the challenger bank business
With $90 million in deposits and $18.25 million in new financing, HMBradley is making moves as the Los Angeles-based entrant into the challenger bank competition. LA is home to a…
Nigeria’s Kuda raises $10M to be the mobile-first challenger bank for Africa
The African continent is currently one of the fastest-growing regions when it comes to mobile growth, and financial technology companies that are building services to meet that rapidly-expanding market are…
Leading a $15 million round, Prosus Ventures makes the challenger bank Klar its first bet in Mexico
Klar, a new online bank based in Mexico City, has become the first big bet that Prosus Ventures (the firm formerly known as Naspers Ventures) is taking in Latin America…
Neobanks have created a new tech stack, completely changing the services, products and speed at which they are delivered, and creating more fluidity in payments and currencies.
Small business challenger bank Finom raises another $12 million to expand in Europe
B2B financial service startup Finom — which provides online financial services for SMEs, freelancers and the self-employed in Europe — has raised an additional $12 million (€10.3 million) to add…
Emerging market challenger banks will have to look carefully at market conditions, possible target segments, sustainable revenue sources and the regulatory structure that best supports their desired business model.
Challenger bank Varo, soon to become a real bank, raises $241M Series D
Mobile banking startup Varo Money has raised an additional $241 million in Series D funding, the company announced today. The investment was co-led by new investor Gallatin Point Capital and…
Monzo to lay off up to 120 employees as the ‘economic situation’ remains challenging
Monzo, the U.K. challenger bank, continues to be faced with tough decisions linked to the coronavirus crisis and resulting economic downturn. Following the shuttering of its Las Vegas-based customer support…
Existing backers put another £40M into UK challenger bank Starling
Starling Bank, the U.K.-based challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, has raised an additional £40 million in funding, TechCrunch has learned. The round is led by existing backers…
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This UX specialist opened 12 UK bank accounts and ‘logged everything’
“I’ve got a really high attention to detail, which might sound great, but it’s possibly a curse because I can’t help but spot problems with everything around me,” says Peter Ramsey. He’s the founder of Built for Mars, a U.K.-based UX advisory, and he has spent the last three months documenting and analyzing the user…
Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield moves from UK CEO role to president
More than five years after starting the company, Monzo co-founder Tom Blomfield is stepping down as CEO of the U.K. challenger bank to take up the newly created role of…
B2B challenger bank Finom raises $7M Seed from Target Global and General Catalyst
Just as challenger banks have appeared in the B2C space, so to have B2B startup banks aimed at small businesses, among them startups like Qonto (Fr), Tide (UK), Penta (GER)…
Thought Machine nabs $83M for a cloud-based platform that powers banking services
The world of consumer banking has seen a massive shift in the last ten years. Gone are the days where you could open an account, take out a loan, or…
Albo raises $19M Series A to scale Mexico’s largest neobank
Another startup hoping to capitalize on the fintech opportunity in Mexico has closed on a new sum of funding. Mexican challenger bank Albo has secured a $19 million extension to…
Penta, the German business banking challenger, partners with SumUp to target offline businesses
Penta, the Berlin-based business banking challenger that also now operates in Italy, has partnered with BBVA-backed card reader company SumUp in a bid to attract more offline businesses. Up until…
LA is fast becoming a fintech hub as HMBradley launches another West Coast challenger bank
Add HMBradley to the list of Los Angeles-based startups looking to shake up the world of high finance typically dominated by East Coast giants with names like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup,…
Over the past several years, ‘fintech’ has quietly become the unsung darling of venture. A rapidly swelling pool of new startups is taking aim at the large incumbent institutions, complex…
Duffel raises $30M led by Index Ventures to disintermediate legacy travel platforms
Huge travel platforms that run airline booking systems like Sabre and Amadeus were invented eons ago and are so large and cumbersome that innovating with them is no easy feat.…
Starling Bank raises additional £30M as it nears 1 millionth account holder
Starling Bank, the U.K.-based challenger bank founded by banking veteran Anne Boden, has raised an additional £30 million in funding. In what was likely already agreed follow-on funding, perhaps contingent…
Although the market is still in its early stage with just a handful of neobanks with running services, the stage is set for an amusing upcoming battle.
