Global payments startup Revolut has decided to reward user loyalty by giving their customers a chance to buy into a € 1.1 million crowdfunding round alongside top VCs during their Series A round. Aside of the crowdfunding campaign, Revolut will receive up to € 7.9 million from traditional VCs like Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital.
VCs are confident that Revolut can start a new digital era for the banking industry where clients come first.
Meyer Malka, General Partner of Ribbit Capital stated: “We have looked at many players around the world and Revolut has the most transparent and mobile service that consumers feel proud of utilizing. We look forward to seeing their service expand around the world.”
Revolut allows you to exchange currencies at interbank rates, send money through your contacts and spend with a multi-currency Master Card. All this is done at the touch of a button, in a beautiful mobile application.
Revolut is already making financial waves, handling about € 452 million since launching in July 2015. Every day 1500 more users are joining and using it to pay and transfer money into foreign currencies with no fees and at the best exchange rates on the market. Despite spending the last 10 months focusing on building a secure and user-friendly service, the company still have managed to attract 200,000 users without any marketing.
“The positive feedback from consumers has been overwhelming. The speed of company and product development has been rapid. Plans for the future are very exciting. We are confident that this company will exceed expectations, even in an unpredictable environment in Europe. We are delighted to lead another round of financing, and continue to work with an international team that are building a global business from London,” says Daniel Waterhouse, General Partner of Balderton Capital.
The crowdfunding campaign is hosted on Crowdcube and designed to reward users. Potential investors are going to be ranked according to the number of Revolut contacts. Those who have the most contacts will be given priority access to invest before they open the list to users lower down the list. Users can buy in for as little as € 11,71. Every customer who makes it onto their Investor List has the chance to own the same type of shares as Revolut’s institutional investors will own (e.g. Balderton Capital, Ribbit Capital, Index Ventures, Point Nine Capital, Seedcamp and Venrex). More information is here.
“Our customers have been pivotal to our growth and they helped to shape our product. So I am thrilled to offer them the opportunity to become part of our company,” says CEO and Founder Nikolay Storonsky. Russian-born Storonsky had the idea when working as a derivatives trader, first at Lehman Brothers then at Credit Suisse. One of his problems was that he travelled a lot and spent a lot of money on FX fees. So he created a product that dealt with his own pain.
The pre-registration page goes live on July 11 and will be open for 1 week. Those who sign up will get access to exclusive features including the Investor List and Revolut’s investment deck. Future plans on the cards include Europe-wide expansion and rolling out a set of products targeting business.