Fundraising
In February 2016, Monzo set the record for "quickest crowd-funding campaign in history" when it raised £1 million in 96 seconds via the Crowdcube investment platform.[11][12][13]
In October 2016, Monzo announced an 'interim' funding round valuing the company at £50M and raised £4.8M in the process, led by Passion Capital.[45] This round was followed by a second £2.5 million Crowdcube crowd-funding campaign with the total pledged quickly hitting the target amount.[46]
In February 2017, Monzo raised £19.5 million from Thrive Capital, Passion Capital, and Orange Digital Ventures, which it intended to supplement with a crowdfunding campaign for an additional £2.5 million.[47]
On 6 November 2017, Monzo raised £71 million from several investors in a round led by Goodwater Capital. At the close of the round, Monzo was valued at £280 million.[48]
On 5 December 2018, Monzo held another £20 million Crowdcube crowdfunding campaign, reaching nearly £18 million in funding in less than three hours, and reaching the £20 million goal in just over two days.[49]
In 2019 the BBC's Watchdog programme investigated Monzo after receiving complaints from Monzo customers who had their accounts frozen or closed.[50] Affected customers complained about the length of time they were unable to access their money.[51] In a response to this investigation, the company said that account closures take place if the bank "suspect[s] there's financial crime".[52]
On 24 June 2019, Monzo raised £113 million in a Series F funding round led by Y Combinator's Continuity fund. This round gave Monzo a valuation of £2 billion.[53][54]
In June 2020, Monzo closed a £60 million 'down round', which saw its valuation fall by 40% to £1.24 billion.[55] In December 2020, Monzo closed another £60 million funding, including from investors such as for Novator, Kaiser and TED Global.[56]
In December 2021, Monzo closed a $600M funding round at a valuation of $4.5bn, led by the Abu Dhabi Growth Fund.[55]
Jeremy Hunt was rejected for a bank account with Monzo in 2022.[57] Staff at the bank have been accused of branding the Conservative Party 'evil'.[58][59]
In July 2023, Gina Miller's True and Fair Party was informed that their bank account with Monzo would be closed.[60] Monzo said that they did not accept political parties as customers, and that True and Fair's account was not originally categorised as such in its application.[61]
In April 2024, Monzo fundraised £500m in a round involving investors Hedosophia and GIC. Monzo achieved profitability and a valuation exceeding £4bn.[62]
In 2025 Monzo was fined £21 million by the Financial Conduct Authority for having inadequate financial crime controls. These included allowing "obviously implausible UK addresses when applying for an account", including Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street.[63]
