Starling reaches unicorn designation as it bolsters its business offerings
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The UK-based neobank closed its Series D funding round by raising £272 million ($375.8 million), bringing its new valuation to £1.37 billion ($1.89 billion),
per TechCrunch. It plans to use the money to expand into other parts of Europe, make strategic acquisitions, and grow its lending operations in the UK.
In addition to its funding raise, Starling announced that its business accounts have more than quadrupled since 2019. As of yesterday’s funding announcement, it totaled 300,000 business accounts, up from 74,000 in 2019. The significant growth came on the back of its
participation in the Coronavirus Business Interruption and Bounce Back Loan Schemes, which allowed it to provide government-backed loans to struggling businesses and increase its customer base: It had
Starling doubles down on its UK SMB growth ambitions emarketer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from emarketer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
But that will require broadening its current focus from acquisition to retention.
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CEO Anne Boden expects the neobank will hold 18% of the UK s small- and medium-sized business (SMB) market in the next five years, up from its current 4.4% market share,
according to Insider.co.uk. Boden cites Starling s technology as key to reaching this goal. Starling doubles down on its UK SMB growth ambitions. Insider Intelligence
Starling s recent growth in the UK SMB segment is due in large part to its participation in government-backed coronavirus relief loan programs. The neobank became