Chip raises over £7m and plans a raft of new services

Chip, the AI-powered savings app, has raised over £7m in its latest crowdfunding push and says it will use the funds to launch new services and improve its customer service.

Chip said it had raised a total of £7.3m through Crowdcube and angel investors. Just over half, £3.8m, of the funding came via Crowdcube, eclipsing its initial target of £1m.

The savings app said the funds would be used for a number of purposes, including improving customer service through growing its team and launching an in-app marketplace for returns products as well as launching new savings rates.

Simon Rabin, CEO of Chip, said: “The most powerful way for Chip to grow is to have thousands of investors advocating for the product they believe in. It’s amazing to have this many Chip savers as investors in the company.”

“We’ve proven there’s a big demand for Chip, and we’re ready to scale - we’re going to use our investment to grow and deliver a product that will fill a huge gap in the market.”

“Many of the other big names in fintech are focussed on making spending easier. Monzo has the current account, Curve is disrupting credit cards, Revolut has the travel card, but Chip… Chip is for saving.”

David Kavanagh, CTO of Chip, added: “The savings market is archaic, broken and ineffective. People want more from their savings accounts, so they are voting with their capital.”

“Chip has raised VC-levels of funding from its users and supporters, demonstrating that what customers want is a market-changing product that is easy to use, helps them save, and offers the best possible rates in the market.”

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for the company and I’m delighted to have joined it as such a pivotal stage. I look forward to working with the team at Chip to help set a new standard for savings apps.”

Chip, which says it now has over 10,000 investors, said its initial £1m funding target via Crowdcube exceeded its target in just 54 minutes.

Chip has made a number of senior hires recently including Kavanagh, the former Chief Technology Officer at Purplebricks and Chief Compliance Officer Gerard Hurley, who joined earlier this year from Funding Circle.

Chip automatically transfers money into a savings account, the value of which is determined by an AI-powered algorithm.

The algorithm calculates how much the account holder can afford to save each month and transfers it into the account which offers up to five percent interest.

Since its launch in 2017, Chip has processed over £130m worth of savings.