Durham fintech Atom has raised more than £100m from its existing investors, but taken a circa £70m cut in its value while doing so.
The digital bank raised the equity from Spanish bank BBVA, private equity firm Toscafund and London-based Infinity Investment Partners, three of its longstanding shareholders.
Sources close to the company told The Financial Times that the funding round valued the challenger bank at £362m, down from the £435m reported early last year.
Atom had around 224,000 customers at the end of its latest financial year in March, and reported a pre-tax loss of £10m.
The lender said the latest fundraise would allow it to grow its balance sheet and compete with high-street banks and other digital challengers in the savings, business lending and mortgage markets as it prepares to float on the London Stock Exchange. The challenger bank was forced to delay its initial public offering last year because of the difficult market for IPOs.
Atom’s chief executive Mark Mullen said he was “delighted” with the vote of confidence from the company’s investors.
“This money will be put to work to drive growth and to fuel the development of our franchise . . . Our vision remains as valid today as it was when we founded the company,” he added.
Atom launched in 2016 and claims it was the first app-based bank in the UK, although it has so far struggled to grow as fast as some of its digital competitors.
