U.K.-based digital bank Zopa landed $92 million from existing investors IAG Silverstripe, Uprising, and Augmentum.The funding, which “cements and enhances” the company’s unicorn status, brings Zopa’s total raised to $880 million. Since launching its digital bank in 2020, Zopa has attracted $3.69 billion (£3 billion) in deposits, added more than $2.46 billion (£2 billion) in loans on its balance sheet, and issued more than 400,000 credit cards.
Zopa pulled in $92 million (£75 million) this week to bolster its digital banking capabilities, proving that the race is still going strong in the challenger banking arena. The funding brings the U.K.-based company’s total raised to more than $880 million.
While Zopa did not disclose an updated valuation, the company said it “cements and enhances” its unicorn status. Zopa originally became a unicorn in 2021 after its $304 million funding round.
Also undisclosed is the round’s lead investor. Interestingly, the lead investor in the company’s 2021 round, SoftBank, is not participating in today’s investment. Zopa CEO Jaidev Janardana told TechCrunch, however, that SoftBank is still an active board member. He also mentioned that today’s funding included investments from existing investors IAG Silverstripe, Uprising, and Augmentum.
Founded in 2005, the former peer-to-peer lending platform launched its digital bank in 2020 and has since attracted $3.69 billion (£3 billion) in deposits, added more than $2.46 billion (£2 billion) in loans on its balance sheet, and issued more than 400,000 credit cards.
“We are happy to have investors who share our excitement at the opportunity to serve more customers across more product categories,” said Janardana. “This has already led to several profitable months in 2022 and will very likely convert into full-year profitability in 2023 for the first time.”
Zopa said that it will use the funding received today to pay off its debts and fuel upcoming mergers and acquisitions, which could begin this quarter.
Photo by Samson Katt
