Chime, a US-based mobile bank operator, has secured $750m in a series G round featuring telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, at a post-money valuation of $25bn, according to press reports.
The round was led by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital Global Equities and backed by private equity and hedge funds General Atlantic, Tiger Global and Dragoneer Investment Group.
Founded in 2013, Chime offers digital financial services through partnerships with regional banks, providing debit cards, spending accounts, savings accounts and special features such as SpotMe, a service which lets customers make debit card purchases that overdraw their account without paying fees.
The company plans to use the funding to further expand its operations and broaden its business reach, according to press reports. Following this round Chime is likely to consider a potential IPO in the US in the first half of 2022, as reported by Reuters.
Chime raised a $485m series F round backed by Access Technology Ventures, an investment vehicle for diversified conglomerate Access Industries, in September 2020. Coatue Management, Iconiq Capital, Tiger Global Management, Whale Rock Capital, General Atlantic, Dragoneer Investment Group and DST Global also contributed to the capital injection.
The company collected $500m in a December 2019 series E round led by DST Global and backed by Access Technology Ventures, General Atlantic, Iconiq, Coatue, Menlo Ventures and Dragoneer.
DST Global had previously led a $200m series D round for Chime in March 2019, with contributions from Coatue, Dragoneer, General Atlantic and Iconiq.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the corporate venturing division of financial services firm Northwestern Mutual, contributed to a $70m series C round led by Menlo Ventures in June 2018. The round also featured Aspect Ventures, Cathay Innovation, Forerunner Ventures, Crosslink Capital and Omidyar Network.
Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures had previously backed the company in an $18m series B round led by Cathay Innovation in September 2017. Aspect Ventures, Omidyar Network, Crosslink Capital, Forerunner Ventures and Homebrew also took part in the investment.
Chime raised $9m in a 2016 series A funding round led by Aspect Ventures with contributions from Crosslink Capital, Homebrew, PivotNorth Capital, Forerunner Ventures and SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie.
The company had previously collected $8m in series A funding two years earlier from Crosslink Capital, Homebrew, Forerunner Ventures and PivotNorth Capital.