Last weekend, thousands of Revolut’s paid subscription customers descended upon an underground basement venue in central London to celebrate the neobank hitting 50m customers.
Attendees were treated to a host of star-studded panels, which included football commentator Alex Scott interviewing Revolut’s founders Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, podcaster Steven Bartlett hosting a startup pitch event and a session led by video game streamer TenZ.
To top it off, popstar Charli XCX headlined the closing party and opened her set without mentioning Revolut — instead goading the audience for being too quiet.
Revolut's UK CEO, Francesca Carlesi, backstage with Charli XCX. Source: Revolut.
Conversations I had with fellow attendees questioned how relevant the events were to Revolut’s brand.
“This is all very cool but I’m not really sure what this has to do with Revolut,” one attendee told me, citing the giant 4K video installation greeting attendees, designed by a production studio that had previously created tour visuals for Beyoncé and Calvin Harris.
What’s more likely, however, is that this was an engineered bid to course-correct the perception of the neobank. Since its founding in 2015 as a money travel app, Revolut has expanded its service to include business banking, savings accounts and stocks and shares trading.
In that time, it’s also been subject to numerous controversies including criticism of its work culture and accounting issues. Last month it was singled out by the BBC as the high-street bank with the most reports of fraud.
By drawing in this unlikely cast of famous popstars, founders and investors as an added benefit to its subscription plan, Revolut is probably making its bid to evolve from a bro-y fintech to a lifestyle brand in the vein of big tech companies like Apple.
“It’s a great way as well for us to show the value that our best plans are bringing, and how the experience ensures that Revolut is not only about managing your finances, it’s about lifestyle as well,” Revolut’s head of growth Antoine Le Nel told The Guardian.
Consider Lithuania, a country that blends fast-paced careers with fulfilling lifestyles. Join a tech scene that’s challenging the status quo and creating a lifestyle that goes beyond work. In Lithuania, you don’t have to choose between success and happiness.
🏦 Monzo has added two new C-suite additions to its finance teams amid rumours that its readying itself for a public listing.
The UK digital bank today announced that it hired former exec at Brazilian neobank Nubank Tom Oldham as its group CFO, and former Barclays investment banker Mark Newbery for the role of UK CFO.
🔥 Klarna’s profitability streak has continued into the third quarter of this year, after the company filed for an initial public offering in the US earlier this month.
The Swedish buy now, pay later fintech yesterday posted a net profit of SEK 216 million (€18.7m) for the third quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 57%. This continues Klarna’s move into the black after it reported an adjusted operating profit of 673m SEK (€57.2m) for the first six months of the year.
💰 Deblock, a UK-based crypto wallet built by former Revolut and Ledger execs, has raised an additional £13.3m in seed funding according to Companies House filings this month. Another filing in October indicated Headline, Hoxton, 20VC and Chalfen were lead investors in the round. Sifted previously reported the startup had quietly raised €12m last year.
The company was founded in August 2022 by Revolut’s former head of crypto Jean Meyer, head of payments Aaron Beck and Ledger’s ex-head of engineering Mario Eguiliuz. Later that year, the startup poached Adriana Restrepo, the chief operating officer of Revolut’s European banking operations, as its fourth founder.
Deblock CEO Jean Meyer declined to comment on the funding round.
🧳 Brazilian neobank Nubank is weighing upmoving its legal base to the UK, according to a Bloomberg report. The fintech is working with the UK government on the plans, which were discussed as part of a wider set of agreements between Brazil and the UK, according to people familiar with the talks cited by Bloomberg.
Nubank, which has more than 100m customers, is one of the most successful neobanks globally. Last year, it made $1bn in profit and $8bn in revenue two years after it listed on the New York Stock Exchange. While its corporate HQ would remain in Brazil, moving its legal domicile to the UK would be a big boon to the European country’s tech industry — especially at a time when talk of it losing its tech crown is heightened.
📈 German neobank N26reported its first-ever profitable quarter in Q3 after regulators lifted a limit on customer numbers imposed on the company in 2021 for failing to apply effective money-laundering controls.
In preliminary financial results published last week, the Berlin-based startup also forecast a 40% rise in gross revenue across 2024 to €440m, as a result of increased customer activity. It didn't disclose its expected losses across the same period.
✨UK neobank Revolutannounced a slew of new products for 2025 on Friday as the fintech trumpets hitting 50m customers. These included an AI-powered “financial companion” that aims to guide customers towards better financial habits and Revolut-branded ATMs using facial recognition technology for added security.
The fintech also confirmed previously reported plans to launch a mortgage product, which will roll out in Lithuania, Ireland and France next year. 2025 will also see Revolut bring a credit product to its B2B banking offering as well as a Klarna-style buy now, pay later payment option.
Last week, Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky also hinted the neobank would restart efforts to obtain a US banking licence. It currently operates in the US through a partner bank but previously scuppered plans to secure a licence across the pond in 2021.
Secondaries fever has hit fintech - but only a few companies are in demand
Europe’s later-stage fintechs are increasingly opting to raise funding through secondary share sales. But only a select group of fintechs can garner demand for share sales, leaving some startups out in the cold.
In August, Revolut kicked off the secondaries fever by raising an employee share sale — a type of secondaries deal which sees equity-holding employees cash in on their stocks — that secured the company a $45bn valuation.
Investment platform Moneybox and UK neobanks Monzo and Tide followed suit, also doing secondary transactions in recent months.
Secondaries investors tell me fintech maturing as a sector has increased demand for second-hand venture assets in the industry.
But market demand for secondary shares favours the larger and already profitable companies, meaning it isn’t a viable option for earlier-stage companies.
“The market only really starts once you’ve reached $50m annual recurring revenue,” says Alan Vaksman, founding partner of London-based secondaries firm Launchbay.
Misalignment between buyers and sellers on price per share is also common, meaning even companies with significant revenues may face challenges in selling shares at the desired valuation.
Get clued up on fintech’s push into secondaries here.
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London-based Nivoda, a digital marketplace for the diamond industry, raised $51m in funding. Northzone led the round and was joined by investors including Avenir, Headline, Abstract Ventures and Canaan Partners.
Milan, Italy-based Cardo AI, which uses AI tools to make structured finance more accessible, raised $15m in Series A funding. Blackstone Innovations Investment, Fintop Capital and Jam Fintop led the round and were joined by investors including Andy Horwitz and Kevin MacDonald (Black Mountain Systems cofounders).
Hyvinkää, Finland-based Keto Software, a strategic portfolio management platform which uses AI tools, raised €6.4m in equity and €2m in debt funding. Emerald Technology Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Greencode Ventures, Sinituote and Trauma Holding.
Stockholm-based Kodiak Hub, a supplier relationship management platform for global procurement and sourcing teams, raised €6m in funding. Oxx led the round.
Amsterdam-based Norbr, a platform for payment operators to integrate with new partners, raised €3m in funding. Alstin Capital led the round and was joined by investors including PortfoLion CapitalPartners.
