Digital challenger bank Monese lands $10m
One of the UK's up-and-coming digital challenger banks has landed a new round of funding from investors to expand to Europe.
Monese has raised $10m (£8.2m) in series A funding from Anthemis Exponential Ventures, Korea Investment Partners and STE Capital. It follows on from a $1.8m in the summer of 2015 from Seedcamp, SmartCap along with entrepreneur and Spotify investor Shakil Khan.
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"We are incredibly excited to close a heavily oversubscribed funding round with a suite of top investors at our side," said chief executive Norris Koppel.
"The money raised will be key in helping us launch Euro current accounts and become available to customers in other European markets as well as a host of new features like direct debit and credit services to ensure customers have everything they need to stay in complete control of their finances."
Monese was the first digital bank to open its virtual doors in late 2015 and targets its services at expats, migrants and those transferring money across borders.
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Founded in 2013, the fintech startup now counts 40,000 customers from more than 179 different countries who have collectively made over 1.8m transactions with a value of £150m, it has revealed.
The investment comes as several high-profile branchless digital challengers enter the market in a bid to rival banking giants. City A.M exclusively revealed Tandem's launch in November while Monzo is poised for launch after gaining a banking license in August.
Monese has yet to move into full baking territory. It lets people move and hold money online but does not hold a banking license or offer typical banking products such as credit cards or loans.