Monzo set to finalise new £500m fundraising in deal with top tech investor

Digital bank Monzo is in the process of finalising a new expanded fundraising with major tech investor Hedosophia, according to reports, in one of the largest fundraising rounds achieved by a British tech firm.

Citing City sources, Sky News reported Hedosophia and Singapore’s Government Investment Corporation were participating in a fundraising round worth close to £500m.

Sky reported that Hedosophia, an early backer of Airbnb and Uber as well as Wise in the UK, could commit tens of billions in the fundraising round, becoming a shareholder in the bank. An official announcement could come as soon as next week, the report said.

Monzo is expected to launch a blockbuster IPO in London or New York in the coming years and the latest round of fundraising will likely mean it does not need any further capital before a possible floatation.

Boss TS Anil has hinted that the firm will float at some point but has remained tight-lipped about the timing or location, saying last month that it was “too early” to discuss.

Monzo was founded in 2015 and has since become one of Britain’s biggest digital banks, alongside Starling and Revolut.

In February, the bank announced that it had reached nine million customers, with two million joining in 2023.

In March, it completed a new $430m (£339m) funding round led by Alphabet-owned CapitalG valuing the digital challenger bank at $5bn (£3.9bn).

The firm was previously valued at $4.5bn (£3.5bn) in 2021 after a funding deal with investors including Tencent and the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund.

Like many of its peers, Monzo is loss-making, but the firm expects to become profitable in 2024. It posted a £116m pretax loss in 2023, driven by higher loan loss impairments from its buy-now pay-later offering.

Monzo and Hedosophia were contacted for comment.