UK-based fintech startup Revolut raised over £7.75 million of funding via venture capital firms.
Equivalent to roughly $10,292,968 USD, £6.75 million alone was from 6 venture capital firms including Balderton Capital and Index Ventures with an additional £1 million raised by the company’s equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube allowing users to get a slice of the company.
Revolut itself is an app that is linked to a pre-paid MasterCard, giving the user all the features a MasterCard has and allowing people to deposit money using their bank account or credit card. Once loaded, users can pay in 90 different countries with 23 different currencies as if they had money from the country they were in with no international transaction fees.
Over 200,000 people have registered with Revolut with an average of 1,500 new users each day. It is especially a handy service for travellers and tourists who tend to purchase things overseas which they find that after going through an exchange or service such as TransferWise, the transaction fee is massive. On the other hand, Revolut converts via interbank rates which are the best exchange rates available with no fees.
Free money transfers
With banks and clearing houses charging staggering transaction fees for money transfers, Revolut even lets you send funds to other Revolut users for free, making Revolut an interesting alternative to other money transferring services.
According to Nikolay Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut, since Revolut is offering no transaction fees for transfers, they plan on generating revenue by cross-selling financial products and services through the app. Also, he plans on introducing insurance, credit and VAT rebate features which he plans to release later this year.
As the UK prepares for post-Brexit, UK-based companies are fearing for their interests in mainland Europe because when Britain leaves the EU, UK fintech companies will have to apply again for EU financial licenses in order to operate there.