Fintech star Monzo joins unicorn ranks with £85m funding round

Digital banking startup Monzo will today announce the close of a fresh fundraising round at £85m, led by new US investors General Catalyst and Accel as the fintech firm prepares to leap across the pond.

Existing investors Passion Capital, Thrive Capital, Goodwater, Orange Digital Ventures and Stripe also participated in the round.

The news takes Monzo’s valuation above £1bn, cementing its position among the UK’s so-called unicorn startups.

It follows reports on the matter by City A.M. in August, which also said Monzo will launch a crowdfunding round with Crowdcube later this year seeking £20m.

The bank said it now represents 15 per cent of all new bank accounts opened in the UK each month, after hitting 1m users in September.

The raise comes as Monzo saw its losses increase fourfold over the last year, logging pre-tax losses of £33.1m in July.

Co-founder and chief executive Tom Blomfield said Monzo will use the funding and new partnerships to expand its customer reach.