2024: Top five funding rounds of the year
A year of varied fintech funding rounds, 2024 saw everything from employee share sales to large investments and financing deals. FinTech Futures looks back at some of the biggest rounds, including those from Stripe, Monzo, and Moniepoint.
Monzo’s valuation tops $5bn with $430m Alphabet-led funding round
Monzo raises $430m in fresh funding
Monzo raised $430 million in a fresh funding round in March, that also saw its valuation exceed the $5 billion mark for the first time.
The round was led by CapitalG, the independent growth fund of Google’s parent company Alphabet, with support from Google Ventures (GV) and Chinese venture capital firm HongShan Capital. Existing backers Passion Capital and Tencent also participated in the raise.
Monzo said it would apply the new capital to “accelerate” its expansion plans and “further fuel a rich product roadmap”, building on what it claims was “a year of record growth”.
Stripe raises $694m through share sale to provide employee liquidity
In April, fintech heavyweight Stripe raised $694.2 million in the tender offer it announced at the end of February, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
When announcing the tender offer, Steffan Tomlinson, Stripe’s chief financial officer, said that the firm’s new valuation came as the business continued to “see strong momentum with the most advanced companies in the world”, highlighting partners such as Airbnb, Microsoft, Uber and WhatsApp.
The company also added: “While the majority of funds for the tender offer are being provided by investors, Stripe will also use a portion of its own capital to repurchase shares to offset dilution from the company’s employee equity compensation programs.”
India’s DMI Finance lands a further $334m investment from MUFG
DMI Finance bags $334m investment
Back in August, DMI Finance, the New Delhi-based digital lending arm of India’s DMI Group, secured a $334 million equity investment from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group subsidiary, MUFG Bank.
MUFG had previously led a $400 million equity funding round in April 2023, bringing its total investment in DMI Finance to approximately $565 million.
On the financing, Masakazu Osawa, managing executive officer and chief executive for Asia Pacific of MUFG Bank, stated: “Through our additional strategic investment in DMI, we aim to further capture the growth of the digital finance market in India, deepen collaboration with MUFG, as well as contribute to financial inclusion in the country by supporting DMI’s growth.”
LendInvest extends JP Morgan debt financing agreement to £1.5bn
LendInvest extended its funding agreement with JP Morgan by £500 million in September, bringing the total value of the separate account it holds with the US bank to £1.5 billion.
JP Morgan has backed the property lender since 2021, when it made its first £500 million investment in the firm after purchasing its £125 million mortgage portfolio the year prior.
LendInvest said the extension had increased its funds under management to more than £4.55 billion, stating that investors seek “strong relative value in the current macroeconomic environment” through asset-backed investments in property finance.
Africa’s “fastest-growing fintech” Moniepoint secures $110m Series C funding
Moniepoint lands $110m Series C
In October, African business banking and payments fintech Moniepoint (formerly known as TeamApt) bagged $110 million in a Series C funding round led by Development Partners International’s African Development Partners (ADP) III fund.
Moniepoint, which provides payments, banking, credit, and business management tools for businesses and entrepreneurs, claims to be “Nigeria’s leading business banking provider”, currently processing $17 billion in transactions per month through its subsidiaries.
Moniepoint stated that the investment would be put towards creating a single integrated platform for “African businesses of all sizes”, as well as facilitating further expansion throughout the continent.
