Fintech startup CommuterClub raises £2.3m to grow online season ticket financing from WGC and early-stage investors including tennis star Andy Murray

A startup which provides financing for commuters to buy rail travel cards has landed a fresh injection of cash, City A.M. can exclusively reveal.

The £2.3m for CommuterClub was led by Indian financial services firm Wadhawan Global Capital (WGC), an investor in Zopa and Goldman Sachs-backed fintech startup Neyber, with previous investors also participating.

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That includes Worldpay and soon-to-be Paddy Power Betfair chief executive Peter Jackson. Gavin Casey, a former boss of the London Stock Exchange, the head of Barclays Techstars Chris Adelsbach and tennis star Andy Murray.

The three-year-old startup, which has provided loans worth more than £30m to more than 10,000 commuters, is also returning to Seedrs to raise cash that will push the total up to £2.5m.

Commuters can use CommuterClub to get a yearly season ticket or travelcard but pay on a monthly basis as a digital subscription. It claims to have saved them more than £3m to date.

The startup, founded by Petko Plachkov and Imran Gulamhuseinwala, also the head of fintech at EY, has also partnered with fellow fintech Revolut. The digital challenger bank will offer travel financing to its customers.

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“Commuting in London and big cities is exorbitantly expensive and this new fundraising campaign will allow us to grow and offer our simple and transparent instalment plan to consumers in the UK and overseas,” said Plachkiv, a former consultant at McKinsey.

“This industry is ripe for further disruption. It seems unbelievable that 95 per cent of people still buy their season ticket offline. Consumers deserve more.”