Fintech Currensea has surpassed its crowdfunding target in under two hours after launching on the Seedrs platform. Currensea, a money-saving travel card linked to existing current accounts, has already raised £1.35m from over 350 investors – 135% of its initial target.

Due to high demand, Currensea has reappraised its crowdfunding target and is currently continuing to accept investment from UK investors for a short time on the Seedrs platform: https://www.seedrs.com/currensea2. There is a minimum investment of £11. Currently, almost 50% of initial investors via Seedrs are already Currensea users demonstrating strong customer advocacy of the card.

This crowdfunding campaign comes as the travel industry is returning to pre-pandemic normality with two years of pent-up demand driving huge spikes in overseas travel. But at the same time, the cost of living crisis means that UK travellers need to ensure that their spending stretches further and Currensea exists to put an end to travellers facing high foreign exchange fees from banks when spending abroad.

Currensea calculates UK travellers are currently spending £2.7bn in foreign exchange fees every year from using their bank cards abroad. In total, the UK’s international card spend sits at £79bn annually according to UK Finance.

Currensea allows card users to save at least 85% on every transaction abroad by removing the normal fees leveraged by banks and other card providers. For example, a user spending $1500 in the US would save £40 using Currensea instead of their bank card. Similarly, the average family of four taking a seven-day holiday in Spain could save £160 using the Currensea card.

Currensea uses open banking to securely connect to someone’s bank account with their approval, allowing travellers to make overseas transactions directly from funds in their current account, without needing to open any new account.

Currensea has enjoyed rapid growth this year with cardholder numbers growing by over 100% in 2022 and over 45,000 sign-ups. This latest fundraising takes the total amount raised to £6.5m since launch.

The amount raised through this crowdfunding round will support additional senior hiring and drive increased customer acquisitions to meet the fintech’s aim of acquiring 300,000 users in the next two years.

James Lynn, Co-Founder of Currensea, comments: “There has been phenomenal demand amongst investors, clearly demonstrating the scalability and need for a viable solution to the foreign exchange trap that we’ve all been forced to endure for too long.

“The fact that so many of our customers have now decided to become shareholders via Seedrs indicates how strong the proposition is – they love the simplicity of our money-saving solution and want to contribute to a fairer travel money market.”

“Currensea was created to provide travellers with more control over how they spend their money, finally providing a solution to the extortionate foreign exchange fees that have long seemed unavoidable.

Currensea users can also support the fintech’s sustainability initiatives – users can opt to plant one tree for every 8p saved or remove 100 plastic bottles from the ocean for every £1 saved in foreign exchange fees. Since launch, users have contributed to the planting of 50,000 trees and removed 750,000 bottles from the ocean.