UK challenger bank Starling Bank is to open a second UK office this summer.
The new office will be their first outside of London, with the planned location to be in Southampton on the South Coast of England.
The bank plans to recruit up to 50 software engineers and up to 100 customer service team members to help build out the challenger back鈥檚 business banking product.
In just under a year, Starling has garnered more than 30,000 SME business account sign ups, adding to around 500,000 consumer current accounts.
Opened by聽Anne Boden in 2014, the company now plans to heavily invest in its business banking division after being awarded a 拢100 million grant from the Capability and Innovation Fund.
Boden also said that Southampton was chosen as Starling鈥檚 new office for its entrepreneurial spirit and high level of tech talent.
She said the city is gaining a reputation as a 鈥渂urgeoning tech hub鈥� and has a growing skilled jobs market and good transport links, including to and from London.
More broadly, she wants Starling to 鈥渟pread the FinTech love鈥� beyond its traditional base of London, and there is an increasing sense that UK tech is too London centric.
Southampton was recently identified in research conducted by global service company CBRE as a technology 鈥淪uper Cluster鈥� based on the level, concentration and growth of tech sector employment in the city.
The announcement of a second Starling office comes a month after the challenger bank announced it had raised 拢75 million in further funding.
The new capital consisted of a 拢60 million Series C round led by Merian Global Investors, including Merian Chrysalis, with 拢15 million in follow-on funding from Starling鈥檚 existing backer and major shareholder Harald McPike.