Atom Bank raising £75m before launch
Atom Bank is raising £75m from investors as it prepares to gain its full licence and launch this year.
The Durham-based challenger bank plans to be the first fully digital lender, operating predominantly via mobile apps.
The licensing process runs in two stages, allowing banks to gain partial authorisation, helping it to hire more staff and raise more of the necessary capital.
Atom is being launched by Metro Bank co-founder Anthony Thomson and former-First Direct boss Mark Mullen.
“Atom is pleased to confirm that we have appointed Canaccord Genuity and Bond Dickinson as our investment and legal advisors respectively. They will be assisting us in completing our principal capital raise,” the bank said in a statement. “We continue to work closely with the regulators and to invest in the development of Atom as a new and innovative alternative to the traditional high street banks.
“We are making no presumptions about timing of authorisation or the participation of individual investors.”
The fundraising round brings the total capital raised to £100m, according to Sky News, which first reported the funding.