UK-based digital bank Starling Bank secured £30m ($38.5m) in funding on Wednesday, $12.8m of which was supplied by financial, real estate and consulting services provider JTC Group.
Merian Chrysalis Investment Company, a vehicle run by asset management firm Merian Global Investors, invested the other $25.7m. The company has now raised almost $200m in equity funding.
Founded in 2014, Starling Bank offers mobile app-based personal and business banking services that are used by about 930,000 customers.
Users open an account by completing Starling’s in-app verification process and receive real-time transaction alerts, spending guidance and access to 24/7 customer support.
The company’s accounts are protected under the UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which covers deposits in the case of a bank going bust. The funding will go to enhancing its services and supporting expansion into additional European markets.
Merian Global invested an amount reported at the time to be $77.4m in Starling in February this year alongside a $19.3m commitment from Harald McPike, the founder of investment fund QuantRes, though Starling this week placed the size of its commitment at $64.4m.
Starling had secured about $14m in funding from an unnamed existing backer likely to be McPike in April 2018, having already attracted $68.6m from private investors including McPike in 2016, according to Beauhurst. JTC was described as an existing investor in the latest round.
The company was awarded a $131m grant in February 2019 through the Capabilities and Innovation Fund, a scheme offered by banking firm Royal Bank of Scotland in connection with a government bailout it received during the last financial crisis.