Curve, the UK startup that combines all your cards into one Mastercard® and a secure mobile app, has closed a Series A funding round of $10 million, bringing total funding to $13 million. A group of global banks (like Santander), VCs (like Connect Ventures, Speedinvest, Oxford Capital and Breega Capital) and and angel investors have joined the funding round. Curve aims to open up a new ‘Connected Finance’ category in banking, helping established and new European banking providers meet the needs of today’s mobile-first customer. This latest funding round will allow Curve to accelerate growth by building more innovative features and recruiting world-class talent ahead of its full launch.
The London-based startup was founded in 2015. Curve customers use an all-cards-in-one Curve Mastercard card to spend from their card-linked accounts, and a secure mobile app to manage their money in one place. Curve is currently in Beta and is available to the self-employed: entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners in the UK. It can be used anywhere in the world that accepts Mastercard. Curve has been used for over £50 million in payments in over 100 countries, ahead of fully launching out of Beta. Over 50,000 people have already signed up to Curve.
During Beta, Curve has launched a number of industry-leading features that make banking simpler and safer for customers on the go. These include the ability to spend like a local and save money on FX without changing your banking provider, Curve Rewards, the first programme with instant earn and instant spend rewards, and ‘Go Back in Time’, a patent-pending feature to easily switch the card you paid with retroactively to two weeks after a transaction. The app will also soon roll-out ‘Curve Connect’, allowing users to integrate their spending with other business and banking services – re-bundling the increasingly fragmented financial sector in one secure smartphone app.
Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO at Curve, stated: “In the last 12 months, we’ve established a loyal base of customers who love the way Curve complements and improves their existing financial lives. That’s the space in which we’re innovating and this fundraise recognises that focus, marking a new phase in our ability to scale up. It’s rare for such a wide set of banks, investors and leaders to agree on the potential for a disruptive product so early on. The investment highlights growing consensus that we will open up a new ‘Connected Finance’ industry category – with platforms like Curve which rebundle the financial space, making it possible for you to securely manage your money, on-the-go, all in one place.”
Curve, which also partnered with Wirecard, aims to launch out of Beta in 2017, as well as working on a consumer version of the card.