UK challenger bank Monzo today announced a £71 million ($93 million) investment round as its customer base continues to grow at pace. User numbers have increased by close to 300%, from 120,000 to 470,000, since the company's last fundraise just nine months ago.

A transparent, community-focussed approach and commitment to world-leading customer service has helped Monzo win favour with its half a million users since the launch of its beta prepaid card back in October 2015. However, the prepaid card was only a precursor to the company's ultimate goal: to build a financial control centre for one billion people, and give them visibility, choice and control over their money.

This latest round attracted strong interest from US investors, with investments from Goodwater Capital, Stripe, and Michael Moritz, through his charitable investment vehicles including the Crankstart Foundation. In addition, Passion Capital, Thrive Capital and Orange Digital Ventures all also made follow-on investments. Following the new financing, the company is valued at £280 million ($366 million), doubling its valuation after its last round in February 2017.

The funding will be used to bolster Monzo's hiring efforts, as the team works hard to support its growing user base, roll-out current accounts, and build its marketplace offering. Based in Monzo's London HQ, the team now numbers 210, more than double the 80 people employed at the time of the last round.

Monzo CEO Tom Blomfield said,

"This is an incredible endorsement of our strategy so far, and sets us up to continue the growth we've seen this year into 2018.

We want to make it as easy as possible for people to manage and make the most of their money, to give people total visibility and control over all of their finances, and offer them their pick of the best products that the market has to offer.

To help us achieve our ambition, we will continue to hire talented people, focus on building the best product, and bring Monzo to as many people as possible. We're grateful and flattered to be joined by such high-calibre investors, who have unparalleled experience in growing and scaling globally-successful businesses."

Chi-Hua Chien, Managing Partner of Goodwater Capital said,

"Monzo's growth in the UK has been incredible, and the fact that it's been driven by word of mouth makes it even more exciting. Customers love Monzo because the company treats them right, solves their problems, and does so with total transparency. These values express themselves powerfully through Monzo's leadership team, world-class product and innovative services.

Monzo is already making it as simple and seamless as possible for almost half a million people to manage their money, and we're looking forward to helping the team bring Monzo to millions more, in the UK and beyond."

£1.5 million ($2 million) of this round has also been reserved to allow existing crowdfunding investors to increase their investment amounts if they choose. More than 8,000 people have invested in Monzo through crowdfunding, allowing the community to take a personal stake in their own bank. In March last year, Monzo raised £1 million ($1.3 million) in 96 seconds in what remains the quickest crowdfunding campaign in history. The company also has further plans to launch a large crowdfunding campaign in 2018, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to invest.

As the UK prepares to lead the world and financial services sector with the imminent arrival of new open banking regulations, Monzo has already begun bringing current accounts to existing users, a process that will be complete before the end of the year. The wider public can now download the app to join the waiting list for current accounts, which will be offered to new users at the start of 2018.

Notes on investment
* Monzo has closed a new investment round totalling £71 million ($93 million) from new investors Goodwater Capital, Stripe and Michael Moritz through his charitable investment vehicles including the Crankstart Foundation, as well as existing investors Passion Capital, Thrive Capital and Orange Digital Ventures. The company is now valued at £280 million.
* In February 2017, Monzo raised £19.6 million ($25.5 million) in Series C funding from Thrive Capital, Passion Capital and Orange Digital Ventures, with an additional £2.5 million ($3.3 million) raised in an oversubscribed crowdfunding campaign. The total raised was £22 million ($28.7 million), valuing the company at £87 million ($113.6 million).
* Monzo raised £1 million ($1.3 million) in 96 seconds in March 2016, breaking the record for the fastest crowdfunding round ever.

Notes on the company
* Customers have spent over £800 million ($1 billion) with their Monzo cards to date.
* More than 450,000 people are using Monzo, with 20,000 through current accounts so far. Real-time tracking of the number of current account users live is available here.
* The company received its full banking licence in April 2017, and is authorised by the UK PRA and regulated by the PRA and FCA.
* The company was founded in February 2015 by Tom Blomfield, Jonas Huckestein, Paul Rippon, Gary Dolman and Jason Bates.
* A team of more than 200 people work from Monzo's offices in Old Street, London, and remotely around the world.