Bunq, Dutch neobank secured $111 million at a $1.8 billion valuation
Bunq, the EU’s second-largest neobank, receives an additional €44.5 million ($111 million at current exchange rates) in expansion capital. Bunq’s first and only foreign investment, and hence value evaluation, occurred during this round. Earlier this year, Bunq received €55.5 million. It takes Bunq’s total investment to about €100 million. Despite this year’s market downturn, existing investors Ali Niknam, Pollen Street Capital, and Raymond Kasiman joined the round. They contributed a total of €1.65 billion in funding. The financing is valued at €1.65 billion ($1.8 billion now; $1.9 billion in 2021), the same valuation as the neobank had in 2021 when it obtained $228 million from the same investors.
Fresh funding enables the mobile bank to expand its global operations and sustain its rapid development. Niknam recognized an opportunity in 2012 to develop a new bank that he said was more “durable” and built to give services that clients genuinely wanted. The firm has 9 million clients, up from 5.4 million a year ago and €4.5 billion in consumer deposits (up from €1 billion two years ago). Most of its clients are in Europe, but Niknam believes a similar opportunity exists in the United States. In April of this year, it began obtaining a banking license. Previously, Niknam personally invested millions in the firm as a third-time entrepreneur.
It’s been a truly magical year for bunq: we’re rapidly expanding and have seen massive deposit growth. With more and more people entrusting their money to us, we’re convinced that we should double down on our momentum and cement the way forward for future growth.Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of bunq
Bunq’s watchwords are “healthy” and “sustainable”. According to Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of Bunq, Bunq has been operationally profitable for the last couple of years, he said, based primarily on a model in which users pay monthly subscription fees for their accounts across several tiers rather than large fees for doing transfers and other cross-border transactions. The business plan and projections they have are for the entire company to be “profitable, with money in the bank and everything” by the end of this year. Its initial goal will target diverse European expats who have relocated to the United States yet retain European origins.
