Pockit pockets £15m and teams up with Railsbank

The round included a £500,000 crowdfunding campaign, which will be fully matched by the government’s Future Fund. 

Financial inclusion fintech Pockit has closed a £15m Series B funding round, which included participation from both new and existing investors. 

As part of its Series B, Pockit also raised £500,000 on Crowdcube, which will be matched by the government-backed Future Fund.

Investors in the crowdfunding campaign will also receive a convertible loan note, with an annual coupon of eight per cent. 

Virraj Jatania, CEO and founder of Pockit, said: “Launching a crowdfunding campaign has been an ambition of ours for some time. Since its launch, Pockit has helped over half a million customers to take control of their financial affairs, many of whom never previously had a current account that let them shop online or make contactless payments.

“The time to accelerate is right now; the COVID recession and the end of furlough schemes will disproportionately affect the financially underserved. Some 12 million people in the UK need a solution urgently, and we believe Pockit is that solution.”

Jatania added that Pockit’s crowdfunding campaign was the “perfect opportunity for our loyal customers to join our established investors and own a piece of Pockit.”

To date, Pockit has raised a total of £27m and has amassed over 500,000 users.

Pockit also recently migrated its payment services and functions to PayrNet Limited, which is wholly owned by Railsbank.

The move marks a transition away from the fintech’s former payment provider, Wirecard, whose collapse earlier this year left Pockit scrambling to get back online.