UK financial disruptor Atom bank has picked up £50m ($62m) in a funding round with investor participation from BBVA, Toscafund and Woodford Patient Capital Trust.
It brings the overall capital raised by the digital bank to £450m ($557m) since it was founded in 2014, and follows on from a £149m ($184m) fundraise in March last year.
Rumours of a potential takeover deal by Spanish multinational bank BBVA – which holds a 39% stake in the disruptor – had circulated earlier this year, but Brexit uncertainty scuppered the deal and led to Atom seeking different investment options.
Focused primarily on UK lending markets, Atom has increased its loans to small businesses and homeowners by 76% during the past year to £2.4bn ($3bn), with deposits up from £1.4bn ($1.7bn) to £1.8bn ($2.2bn).
Atom chairwoman Bridget Rosewell said: “This latest raise recognises the enormous progress that we have made on our journey to disrupt UK banking, and is a clear signal of our investor’s support for our future plans.”
The mobile-first challenger bank – which counts US celebrity will.i.am among its strategic advisors – says the new capital will be used to fund further growth, continue its investment in technology and add new staff to its existing 350-strong team.
Atom bank will use funding to boost its lending operations
Based in Durham, Atom stakes a claim to being the UK’s first mobile challenger bank, offering a proposition centred on personal savings, business loans and mortgages.
It currently adds £20m ($25m) in business mortgage applications and £10m ($12m) in residential mortgage applications to its books each week – and was recently named the best online lender for the second year running at the What Mortgage Awards.
CEO Mark Mullen said: “What’s important to customers is good products, good service and good value, so that’s where we’ve spent the majority of our time and energy.
“We’re growing our team here in the North East of England and will add 50 new roles this year to help us expand the range of products and services we offer, starting with Instant Access savings in the autumn.
“More than ever we are convinced of the importance of Atom’s role to drive positive change in UK banking.”
Atom is in the process of re-platforming its core banking system onto the cloud through a partnership with UK technology provider Thought Machine to improve its ability to quickly develop and configure new products.
It has also partnered with UK-based TruNarrative to bolster its anti-money laundering and financial crime safeguards.
