Investec leads first close of Monese’s Series C as it integrates new BaaS platform

Digital banking service Monese has become the latest fintech to bag a chunk of funding, announcing the first close of its Series C.

The fintech’s latest round saw it raise around $90m—taking its total raised to date to $162m—in the round led by its newest partner Investec.

Along with leading the first stretch of its fundraise, Investec’s Private Company Fundraising (PCF) Team, are advising Monese on the second close of its Series C.

As part of the pair’s strategic partnership, Investec will adopt Monese’s new Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.

The platform will bolster Investec’s own banking offering and help launch a new business current account for private companies.

“In our experience core banking providers only cover a small part of the products and services that are required to meet the demands of modern digital banking and so our BaaS offering is completely end to end - it’s everything you would need to launch a current account from scratch,” Norris Koppel, founder and CEO of Monese, said.

“With this platform, we believe we can help others take their digital banking offering to a totally new level, get them to market as quickly as possible and get them ahead of consumer demand.” 

As well as entering into a strategic partnership, Investec’s global head of digital and technology Lyndon Subroyen, will join Monese’s board.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Monese, having invested in them through Outward VC fund, and smaller investment vehicles in recent years,” incoming board member Lyndon Subroyen, added.

“This strategic partnership will enable us to leverage their scale, expertise, and digital capabilities to deliver Investec’s digital current account offering in the UK.”

In the past year, Monese has also entered into a multi-year strategic partnership with Mastercard to enhance local banking across Europe. 

The fintech also integrated with Thought Machine’s core banking platform, Vault, to help it build products quickly, improve customer experience and realise its expansion plans.