FinTech startup Curve has closed a $10m (£7.7m) Series A funding round, bringing its total amount of money raised to date to $13m (£10.1m).
The London-based firm drew support from Santander InnoVentures – the Spanish megabank’s venture capital investment arm – Investec, Connect Ventures, Speedinvest, Oxford Capital, Breega Capital and Samos Investments.
Individual investors including Henry Ritchotte, ex Deutsche Bank COO; Gael de Boissard, ex Credit Suisse board member; and Paul Townsend (Vitesse PSP, Barclays, WorldPay) also participated.
Currently in beta, the company allows its customers to house all their cards in their Curve Mastercard and spend from their card-linked accounts.
The firm says it has transacted £50m worth of payments in more than 100 countries and claims to have over 50,000 registered users.
Curve will use the money to boost its growth, build new features and recruit more staff.
Shachar Bialick, founder and CEO at Curve, commented: “In the past 12 months, we’ve established a loyal base of customers who love the way Curve complements and improves their existing financial lives.
“That’s the space in which we’re innovating and this fundraise recognises that focus, marking a new phase in our ability to scale up. It’s rare for such a wide set of banks, investors and leaders to agree on the potential for a disruptive product so early on.
“The investment highlights growing consensus that we will open up a new ‘Connected Finance’ industry category – with platforms like Curve which rebundle the financial space, making it possible for you to securely manage your money, on-the-go, all in one place.”
Bill Earner, at Connect Ventures, said that as an investor, he was always looking for high-potential teams that can build great products, which would enable true disruption on a global scale.
“With Curve, we’ve found both: a great team and a huge potential to create a new category in an industry ripe for change. Accessing money in a simpler, safer way is a universal need, and we’re excited to be working with the team as it looks to serve that need on full launch later this year,” he added.
Mariano Belinky, managing partner at Santander InnoVentures, also commented on his decision to invest in the firm: “With strong traction during beta, and a unique proposition that looks to effectively serve customers in an open banking world, Curve will make a very strong addition to Santander’s investment portfolio.
“We are excited about the collaboration between Curve and Santander, and look forward to supporting the business as it evolves from a disruptive payments solution to a fully fledged ‘Connected Finance’ platform.”
Other existing investors in Curve include: Seedcamp, Taavet Hinrikus (TransferWise), Ed Wray (Betfair), Ricky Knox (Tandem), Michael Kent (Azimo) and the founders of Google Wallet and Money20/20.
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