BRITISH FINTECH COMPANY Revolut announced today it had been valued at $45 billion (€41b) following a secondary share sale, which it said cemented “its position as the most valuable private technology company in Europe”.

The company, founded in 2015, has been a leader in rolling out financial services to customers via smartphones, initially focusing on allowing clients to easily exchange currencies and make transfers.

Revolut is a popular in Ireland, with over 2.8 million customers, and is planning to enter the Irish mortgage market.

In a statement today, Revolut said it had “signed agreements with a group of leading technology investors to provide liquidity to employees through a secondary share sale at a $45 billion valuation.”

Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, and existing investor Tiger Global had invested in the funding round, which Revolut said allowed current employees to “capitalise on their contribution to Revolut’s growth”.

Revolut announced at the end of July that it had received a UK banking licence “with restrictions” from UK industry regulator PRA, a key step in getting long-awaited recognition as an official bank in its home country.

Revolut has had a banking licence in eurozone member state Lithuania since 2021.

Revolut almost doubled its revenues to $2.3 billion (€2.1b) last year, according to its annual report published in July.

It has benefitted in particular from a sharp rise in its customer base, with 12 million new customers gained last year, taking its total to 38 million by the end of December.

It has since grown to 45 million at the last count in June.

- © AFP 2024