Curve has become the latest digital banking app to scoop a round of venture funding. The company has closed a $10m Series A investment round, with a number of global banks leading the charge.
Both Santander InnoVentures and Investec were involved in the round. They were joined by venture capital firms Connect Ventures, Speedinvest, Oxford Capital, Breega Capital and Samos Investments. A number of individual investors have also piled in, including former Deutsche Bank COO Henry Ritchotte.
“It’s rare for such a wide set of banks, investors and leaders to agree on the potential for a disruptive product so early on,” said Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO of Curve. “The investment highlights growing consensus that we will open up a new ‘Connected Finance’ industry category – with platforms like Curve which rebundle the financial space, making it possible for you to securely manage your money, on-the-go, all in one place.”
The money will be used to accelerate Curve’s growth with new features and recruitment ahead of its full launch. The firm is currently operating in beta-mode, available only to the self-employed. And yet the app has seen over 50,000 sign-ups, and has been used for over £50m in payments in over 100 countries so far.
Curve consolidates all of a user’s cards and bank accounts into a single card and app offering, giving them a convenient method of money management. Its key features include allowing users to spend like a local, wherever they are, and a patent-pending “Go Back in Time” feature, which lets users switch the card used for a payment up to two weeks after a transaction.
Venture capital investors seem to be chucking money at anything that moves in the digital banking sector at present. News broke only this morning that money app Revolut had clinched $66m in a Series B, which it will use for aggressive global expansion.
Henry Richotte, who participated in the Curve round, said that an “explosion of disruption and investment in financial technology has created more choice for businesses and consumers – but also fragmentation and confusion”. He believes that Curve has a chance to become banking’s “one-stop-shop”.
