Germany-based digital bank N26, which counts internet group Tencent and insurance provider Allianz as backers, raised over $900m in series E funding yesterday, at a valuation of more than $9bn post-money.
Third Point Ventures, the venture Capital arm of investment adviser Third Point, led the round and was joined by Coatue Management, Dragoneer Investment Group and unnamed existing investors.
N26 operates a mobile bank through an app which offers fee-free card payments around the globe and push notifications for transactions. It is currently on track to process $90bn in transaction volume for 2021 and is planning to hire 1,000 new staff.
The company closed its series D round at $570m in May 2020, adding $100m from unnamed investors to earlier funding from Allianz subsidiary Allianz X, Tencent, growth equity firm Insight Partners, Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and unnamed existing investors.
Tencent and Allianz X had previously co-led a $160m series C round for N26 in 2018, two years after Horizons Ventures led a $40m series B round also featuring Battery Ventures, Robert Gentz, David Schneider and Rubin Ritter.
Valar Ventures had led N26’s $10.6m series A round in 2015, participating alongside Redalpine, Earlybird and Daniel Aegarter.
N26 co-founders Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal said in a blog post: “We will never lose the spirit of innovation that makes N26 who we are. But we also know that we are not a startup anymore. This funding round is not only a signal from our investors that they believe that digital banking is the future.
“It is also a sign that we are now a leader that will define what our industry looks like in the years to come, with a new level of responsibility to do even better and do more to give customers the best and most secure digital banking experience possible.”
