Starling bags £130.5m ‘war chest’ as it looks to snap up lenders
Fintech lender Starling said it is on an acquisition warpath today as it bagged £130.5m fresh funding to snap up firms in the lending space.
The new funding round, which was backed by all of Starling’s existing investors, more than doubles the firm’s valuation to more than £2.5bn.
Morning Wire understands the firm is already eyeing up a number of firms in the lending space with the new funds, including mortgage lender Kensington.
“This will enable us to continue our growth and to build a war chest for acquisitions,” a spokesperson said today.
“We are looking at a number of potential targets.”
Backers of the round include include JTC, the investment vehicle of secretive billionaire Harry McPike; the Qatari sovereign wealth fund QIA; railways pension fund, Railpen and Goldman Sachs.
Surplus cash levels have now topped £400m, Morning Wire understands, and the firm is now looking to burn off the cash with a spate of acquisitions.
The round follows a £272m March 2021 funding round which saw Starling sail past ‘unicorn’ status with a valuation of £1.1bn.
Founded in 2014 by boss Anne Boden, Starling offers personal and business accounts and has snapped up more than 2.8m customers.
Boden has said previously the firm is eyeing up a shift on to the public markets in 2023.