The investment is an extension of the bank’s oversubscribed £272m Series D funding round announced in March 2021, which valued it��in excess of��£1.1 billion pre-money.����

This��takes the total raised in the Series D round to £322m.��

Starling now has more than two million current accounts, including 350,000 business accounts. Its deposit base has increased from approximately £1 billion just over a year ago, to now more than £6 billion.��

It is the fastest-growing bank for small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs in Europe and now holds a 6% share of the UK’s SME banking market. It is on course to report its first full year in profit by the end of its next financial year-end.��

The��new funding announced today will support Starling’s continued rapid and now profitable growth.����

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Anne��Boden, founder and CEO of Starling Bank, said: “Securing the support of another global financial heavyweight demonstrates the strength of demand from investors and represents yet another vote of confidence in Starling.����

“Goldman Sachs will bring valuable insight��as we continue with the expansion of lending in the UK, as well as our European expansion and anticipated M&A.”��

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James��Hayward, managing director at Goldman Sachs, said: “Starling is one of the leading and most innovative digital banks in the UK, with an ambitious technology-first leadership team and addressing a deep market opportunity.����

“We are delighted to be supporting their��growth with this investment and believe the company has sustainable long-term earnings potential.”��

The��transaction remains subject to regulatory approval.��

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Based in London,��Monument’s new backers include Eric��Zinterhofer, a founding partner of Searchlight Capital, entrepreneur Rakesh��Loonkar��and property developer Harry Handelsman.����

Existing investors also contributed to the round, which takes��Monument’s total funding to date to��more than��£40m��with no reliance on government schemes or public money.��

It says��it is now well–placed to complete the build of its technological and operational capabilities and to be ready for launch in the��summer of 2021.��

Monument received��the first part of its��banking licence in October 2020, which was a key step forward in its plans to launch the first challenger bank in the UK to meet the unmet demands of over��four��million professionals, property investors, entrepreneurs and others that are seeking a bank to help them save and grow their wealth.����

The��bank��says it��is now well–advanced with last stage of the licensing process – called ‘mobilisation’��– where it is finishing building the infrastructure and processes, expanding its team, and demonstrating to the regulators that it is ready for launch.����

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When they are satisfied, and the restriction on the licence is lifted, it will be able to scale up deposit taking, lending and begin operating as a fully-fledged bank.����

Following launch, Monument��claims it will��be the only bank to offer its clients an entirely digital journey for buy-to-let and property investment lending of up to £2��million.����

Designed to reward loyalty,��if an existing saver deposits money for a subsequent fixed term, they will get a better rate than a new customer; while��an existing borrower who renews their loan will also get a favourable rate.����

“We are very pleased and excited to have successfully completed our Series A funding round, exceeding targets, against such a challenging backdrop��[of COVID-19],” said CEO and co-founder��Mintoo Bhandari.��

“We are truly thankful to our investors who have shown faith in the robustness of our business strategy, the strength of our team, and the clarity of our plans. Looking ahead, 2021 will be an even more significant year for Monument as we continue to build our bank, expand our capabilities, launch, and serve the mass affluent, and provide them the level of client service they deserve.��

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“Furthermore, as the global and national focus turns towards economic recovery, we are confident that digital first firms, including Monument, can play an exceptional role in supporting the ‘building back better’ of our economy.����

“I believe these businesses are likely to be a key enabler and driving force for society’s digital future and renewed prosperity.”����

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The Durham firm has��fast-growing revenues��and��expects��its��lending to SMEs��to top��£700��million��by the end of March��following��a tripling of business loans in the last 12 months.����

It says this growth has been achieved both within the Coronavirus �Ͼ�Ʒ�� Interruption Loan Scheme��and also��independent of government schemes.��

Simultaneously, Atom has seen strong and profitable growth in its mortgage portfolio, having already added £362m of mortgages in the second half of its financial year 2020/21.����

Since its launch, Atom has loaned £2.8��billion to UK mortgage customers. The Durham-based lender also confirmed its place in the secondary markets for UK mortgages, issuing a £775m prime mortgage securitisation last year.��

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Its��savings products are now hosted on UK��FinTech Thought Machine’s transformational ‘Vault’ platform – part of a transformation to real-time cloud native technology across all of Atom’s technology stack that has also been completed in the last year.����

The bank says this step change in income and technology has been achieved while continuing to hold operating costs flat.��

“We think of Atom as an exceptionally engaging and efficient banking machine that helps and supports customers to own their homes or build their businesses,” said��CEO��Mark Mullen.����

“We’ve been there for new and existing customers during the pandemic, and in a year when we have held our operating costs��constant��I’m delighted that we have coupled substantial income growth with an enviable record of customer experience.”��

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Asked about the future and the possibility of an IPO for Atom, Mullen said: “We turn to our shareholders for capital as and when we need it to drive growth.����

“Despite it being a difficult environment for all companies that need to raise funding, this capital raise will allow us to continue to progress towards profitability and ever-improving levels of efficiency and engagement.����

“The team retains an IPO as our��objective��–��and��we’ll take the business there when we and the markets are ready.��

“After the year that’s just��gone,��I’m not going to claim perfect foresight;��but we’re looking at the financial year 2022/23 as our IPO target.”��

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The London FinTech reported a��loss of £106.5 million in 2019, compared to £32.8m in 2018.��

Revenue��almost trebled, reaching £162.7m from £58.2m in 2018.��

It blamed the��mounting losses on geographical and product expansion, with Australia its latest full international launch just this week.��

A $500m funding round from US investors in February, before coronavirus reached the UK, saw Revolut’s valuation hit £4.3bn and become the UK’s most valuable FinTech.

The firm��offers features which have become standard among digital-only banking rivals Starling and Monzo, including current and business accounts, stock trading and cryptocurrency services.

The results��reflect those of Monzo, which last week saw losses more than double to��£113.8m, up from £47.2m in 2019. Revenues at Monzo also��rose, but��stand some £100m below those of��Revolut.��

Monzo announced��cost-saving measures��and expressed “significant doubt” about its ability to continue.��

However��Revolut’s��board said��its own company, which employs 2,200 staff,��has a��“comfortable level of headroom above its regulatory capital and liquidity requirements”.��

Rival Starling Bank, which reported a loss of��£52m compared to £25m in 2018, has revenue of around £80m and is confident of��becoming the first��neobank��to��break even next year��having largely dodged the negative effects of coronavirus, unlike its rivals.��

It was the only one of the three to not furlough any staff.��Revolut��cut 60 of its staff��and��offered a��scheme whereby employees could trade in part of their monthly pay��for equity in the company.��

Revolut��now has 13m customers around the world, compared with��Monzo’s��4m and the 1.5m of Starling. The latter’s customer base has the oldest average age.��

Before coronavirus, it had planned to expand into Japan, Russia, the US, South America and Asia this year and to grow its headcount.

Currensea co-founder James Lynn told �Ͼ�Ʒ��Cloud before COVID-19 hit the UK that the profitability of digital-only banks would present a challenge for as long as customers maintained a second traditional account to hold their income and savings.

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